Although the Los Angeles Dodgers officially began their season one week ago in South Korea, they really kicked off the 2024 campaign on Thursday with Domestic Opening Day at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers hosted the St. Louis Cardinals, and nearly everything went right for them as they proved Miles Mikolas correct. Their 7-1 victory was reminiscent of a matchup between a highly talented baseball club against a group of Midwestern farmers.
Mikolas, who started for St. Louis, allowed five runs over 4.1 innings while giving up seven hits. The Dodgers jumped out early in the first inning with a walk from Mookie Betts, a double from Shohei Ohtani and a single from Freddie Freeman.
Unfortunately, that only accounted for one run as Ohtani made a base running mistake on his double and was tagged out at third base.
Still, the Dodgers continued to add on when Will Smith singled to put runners at the corners, which was followed by a sacrifice fly from Max Muncy to put them ahead 2-0.
Betts continued his red-hot start to the season with a solo home run in the third inning, putting the Dodgers up 3-0. It was Betts’ second long ball of the campaign after hitting one in Seoul.
Ohtani then worked a walk, and Freeman followed by hitting his first homer of the season, giving the Dodgers a 5-0 lead. Through the first four innings of the game, the Dodgers’ big three in the lineup went a combined 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double, four RBI, and two walks.
The bottom of the Dodgers’ lineup also joined in to help the offense in the sixth inning as Teoscar Hernández doubled and James Outman drove him in with a single, giving the Dodgers a 6-1 lead.
The heart of the Dodgers lineup once again produced some offense in the seventh inning as Betts and Freeman both worked a walk. That was followed by an RBI single from Muncy for the seventh Dodgers’ run of the game.
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow made the start for the Dodgers, and he gave them a phenomenal outing. Glasnow pitched six innings, giving up just two hits and one run while striking out five and walking one.
Paul Goldschmidt, a noted thorn in the Dodgers’ side, was the only Cardinals player to record a hit off Glasnow, which included a solo home run.
Following Glasnow, Ryan Yarbrough took over to close out the game and record a save with three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit to Goldschmidt.
Tyler Glasnow recalled watching Clayton Kershaw make Opening Day starts for Dodgers
Tyler Glasnow, who grew up in Southern California, attended several games at Dodger Stadium as a child and recalled watching Clayton Kershaw start on Opening Day.
“I don’t think I’ve been to an Opening Day. I would just go randomly throughout the year, but obviously watched them all on TV and stuff,” Glasnow said.
“I was a little older, but watching Kershaw and stuff like that. Going back now, nostalgia kind of floods in and it’s a really cool feeling.”
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