Category: MLB

For an offense that was supposed to add more contact and on-base ability this off-season, it was a disappointing showing from the Mariners on Opening Day in front of a sold-out (as announced by the Mariners) crowd. The Mariners hitters combined for 14 strikeouts, scoring all their runs on solo homers. They only had two non-dinger hits: two doubles, one from Brendan Donovan and one by Randy Arozarena (that probably should have been scored as a single stretched to a double with some shaky play from the Guardians outfield).

Initially, it looked like the Mariners were going to be able to outmaneuver the Guardians, despite Logan Gilbert surrendering a first-inning home run to rookie Chase DeLauter, who pounced on a slider from Gilbert and took him deep to put the Mariners in an early hole.

“I was probably leaning too much on not walking [DeLauter] there,” said Gilbert postgame. “I just didn’t rip it like I usually do, a true slider.”

But Brendan Donovan was right there to pick up his teammate, making some history in his first plate appearance as a Mariner. This is the first leadoff home run on Opening Day in Mariners history:

“That’s a lot of prayers answered right there,” said Donovan postgame, who admitted he was trying to lean the ball fair when it came off his bat.

Marine layer? More like Mariner layer, as in the second Dominic Canzone proved he didn’t leave his power behind in Arizona, either, blasting this go-ahead run at 108 mph.

But that was the last time the Mariners were in the lead in this game. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee was able to keep the Mariners quiet, striking out seven over his five innings of work before being forced out in the sixth without throwing a pitch with what was later announced as right shoulder inflammation.

Logan Gilbert, while not the most efficient with his pitches, was able to match Bibee until the top of the fifth. He suffered a bad-luck weakly-hit leadoff single off the bat of Rhys Hoskins, but then gave up a double to Daniel Schneeman on a slider that didn’t slide enough to put runners on second and third with no outs. Brayan Rocchio then punished a terrible cutter that wound up dead red into the right field corner for a two-RBI double that put the Guardians ahead 3-2.

Gilbert relied on his cutter as the most often used of his secondary pitches, second only behind his four-seamer, while burying his slider in his arsenal. The fastball, which started out 95-96, was down to 94

But again, Luke Raley picked up his teammate, assuring Logan could be handed no worse than a no-decision with a game-tying solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. Raley continues to look like his 2024 self instead of the injury-ravaged 2025 version and it’s great to see

Both teams turned to their bullpens in the sixth. Tanner Bibee came out to pitch the sixth, but left shortly after throwing his warmup pitches with what was announced as right shoulder inflammation

The Guardians took the lead back in the seventh against Gabe Speier, again utilizing their brand of high-contact baseball to create traffic on the bases. Brayan Rocchio nubbed a single off a slider at the bottom of the zone, and Chase DeLauter ambushed a first-pitch sinker that caught too much plate for a single of his own. José Ramírez then doubled on a slider that was located approximately at his shoetops, sending it deep into the gap and scoring both runners, then to add insult to injury stole third base before Speier was able to

Again, it was Canzone pulling the Mariners back into it, seizing the MLB home run lead (for today, at least) with his second homer of the game, rudely greeting former Mariner Shawn Armstrong in the seventh with this titanic blast:

“Heaters down the middle,” smirked Canzone when asked what he was looking for on these homers. “And they were just kind of in the honey hole, down and in.” (Hello Honey Hole sandwiches, have I got a pitch for you.)

Casey Legumina also had to deal with some traffic against the pesky Guardians, walking Rhys Hoskins on a pitch that Cal should have challenged for a strikeout looking and giving up an ambush first-pitch single to Gabriel Arias. Brayan Rocchio then apparently his pant leg got nicked by a sweeper, loading the bases, but Legumina wiggled out of trouble with a beautiful pitch sequence to the uber-pest Steven Kwan, getting the contact-oriented Kwan reaching after sinkers up and away before burying a changeup for Kwan to swing over. In a game that maybe didn’t have a ton to get excited about aside from Canzone’s big day at the plate, let us pause a moment for Casey Legumina striking out Steven Kwan.

It was Legumina’s first-ever Opening Day start and he arrived at the park in a sharply tailored cobalt blue suit. When I complimented him on it, he smiled and said, “Thanks. It’s my Opening Day suit. I’ve been waiting three years to wear it.”

Cooper Criswell got dinged up by a solo home run in his outing, again the victim of the rookie DeLauter, who demolished one of Criswell’s cutters to lead off the ninth, but rebounded to strike out José Ramírez on a changeup at the edge of the plate. He then walked former Coug Kyle Manzardo but was able to get Bo Naylor chasing after a changeup for a weak-contact double play, neatly fielded by Criswell. If those are the two non-leverage arms those are two acceptable outings from Criswell and Legumina.

The pitching leaking six runs isn’t the path to winning baseball for any team, let alone the Mariners, but the issue tonight was the offense, which just wasn’t able to click all night, putting up disjointed at-bats. Cal Raleigh struck out to lead off the eighth, once again not using his challenge despite the pitch looking like it landed outside. Postgame, Dan Wilson reaffirmed that his hitters do have the green light to challenge and they will “remind the guys as much as we can about using the challenges” (which in Dan Wilson language is about as stern a rebuke as you will get).

“It is new for everybody, and I think it doesn’t jump to the forefront of your mind all the time when you’re in the box. But it’s part of the game now and something we will use.”

One player who isn’t panicking after tonight’s game is Brendan Donovan, who said the focus is on quality at-bats and earning a little “dot” in Kevin Seitzer’s notebook to represent a quality at-bat: “chase as many dots as possible.” Sounding eerily like his new manager, he praised this group’s ability to not quit, fighting for every at-bat.

“I know we didn’t get the win,” Donovan said, “but it’s cool to show that this group can flip it on a time at any time.”

“I’m excited.“

Sometimes excitement is a blue suit you don’t get to wear and then one day you get to take it out of the closet. The Mariners will seek their first win of the season tomorrow at 6:40 with George Kirby on the mound.

LOS ANGELES — It was Joe Namath sitting poolside guaranteeing a Super Bowl victory for the New York Jets.

It was Muhammad Ali at ringside telling the world he’d “whup’’ George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle.

And it was Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter and president Stan Kasten predicting a baseball dynasty.

The date was Feb. 28, 2013, and the Dodgers were coming out of the throes of bankruptcy, failing to reach the playoffs three consecutive seasons, when Walter was asked whether it was remotely possible to duplicate Atlanta’s success when they won 14 consecutive division titles under Kasten as president.

“It's going to be done again," Walter told USA TODAY Sports. “This time on the West Coast.’’

Kasten recoiled, Walter apologized, and 13 years later Thursday night, were laughing about their bravado.

“It’s funny, too,’’ Walter said Thursday, “because at the time I didn’t realize how hard it would be. But even though we did it, it's still crazy.

"It’s nuts."

It’s also reality.

The Dodgers have since played 13 full seasons, won 12 NL West Division titles, five National League pennants and three World Series championships.

And the way they looked Thursday night in their 8-2season-opening victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of a sellout crowd of 53,712 at Dodger Stadium, their dynasty isn’t about to end any time soon.

Tonight was mostly very fun for Guardians fans with one big caveat relating to Tanner Bibee. But, Cleveland beat Seattle 6-4, and here’s how it happened.

The game got started with a very exciting event – a Chase DeLauter home run on his first official major league at-bat:

There is a reason we have been screaming for him to play for Cleveland since last May, folks. Please, please, stay healthy.

DeLauter debuted a new home run celebration for the team:

Apparently inspired by a team trip to Medieval Times:

Unfortunately, Brendan Donovan followed up with a homer off Tanner Bibee to tie the game as the Mariners’ first batter. Bibee gave up three solo homers, one on a fastball, one on a sinker (to Dominic Canzone) and one on a cutter (to Luke Raley). So, that’s not helpful. He only gave up 4 hits and 2 walks and struck out 7… but left in the sixth with what was later reported as right shoulder inflammation. So… that’s bad. Hopefully it’ll be a short IL stint.

Back to more positive news- after a Rhys Hoskins single and a Daniel Schneemann double, Brayan Rocchio put the Guardians up 3-2 with a double:

After Bibee gave up the game-tying homer, Jose rapped a double to score Rocchio and DeLauter who had reached via singles in the top of the seventh.

Shawn Armstrong surrendered another homer to Canzone in the bottom of the frame, but Canzone got a well-placed cutter in the bottom of the zone. The bullpen was spotless outside of that with a scoreless inning from Connor Brogdon in the sixth, and ine and a third DOMINANT innings from Erik Sabrowski, who struck out four and went through the heart of the Mariners’ order like a knife through butter. Cade Smith had a perfect ninth for the save, striking out one.

Oh, did I forget to mention that DeLauter hit ABOTHER HOMER??!!:

The Guardians got their first win and I already can’t wait for tomorrow night’s sequel!

Guardians 6, Mariners 4

Opening Day festivities: Dominic Canzone, .23 WPA

Opening Day fartivities: Gabe Speier, -.31 WPA

Game thread comment of the day:

It was not the most fun Opening Day game, but always remember:

The Oklahoma City Comets, the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, unveiled their initial roster on Thursday, with opening day set for Friday night in Oklahoma City against the Albuquerque Isotopes, a Rockies’ farm team.

Among the 43 players on the Dodgers 40-man roster, 10 are on the injured list (three on the 60-day IL, which expands this list to 43), and 26 are active in the majors. Six of the seven remaining 40-man players for the Comets.

River Ryan is the only unaccounted 40-man player not on the preliminary Oklahoma City roster, but he could join them soon. Ryan is slated to pitch this weekend in Arizona, Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic reported Thursday.

Hyeseong Kim lost out to Alex Freeland for a spot on the opening day roster, with the Dodgers wanting Kim to split time between second base, shortstop, and center field in Triple-A.

“There’s no doubt that Hyeseong at some point is going to come help us out. I think the driver, as far as at the outset, is giving Hyeseong an opportunity to play every day, play all over the diamond,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday.

Kyle Hurt is among the relievers. After an impressive spring training, the Dodgers opted to slow-play the right-hander missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him get called up as a need arises in the majors.

Paul Gervase also impressed in spring, and left-hander Ronan Kopp is in his first year on the 40-man roster. Expect a lot of strikeouts from that pair.

Ryan Ward is also on the 40-man roster for the first time, but he returns to Oklahoma City, where the reigning Pacific Coast League MVP he holds several club records in the Bricktown era, a period since the current ballpark opened in 1998. Michael Siani will patrol the outfield for the Comets, likely flanked by Zach Ehrhard and/or James Tibbs.

Ehrhard and Tibbs, acquired from the Boston Red Sox for Dustin May last July, impressed as non-roster invitees in camp and as the older and more experienced of the plethora of stellar Dodgers outfield prospects are the closest to the majors among the group.

Jack Suwinski was briefly on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster this offseason, as was utility man Ryan Fitzgerald, who will likely play all over the infield and potentially some outfield for the Comets. Defensive whiz Noah Miller will play shortstop for Oklahoma City, whose infield also has Nick Senzel and Ryan Fitgerald, all of whom were non-roster invitees this spring for the Dodgers.

Veteran pitchers Cole Irvin and Keynan Middleton are on the Comets’ staff. Other Oklahoma City pitchers with major league experience are River’s brother Ryder Ryan, Garrett McDaniels, and Carlos Duran (pitched one game for the Athletics last season).

Irvin and Ryder Ryan will start the first two games, followed by Christian Romero on Sunday, per play-by-play broadcaster Alex Freedman.

Left-hander Antoine Kelly and right-hander Chris Campos, who were the last two non-roster pitchers standing in Dodgers camp this spring, each are on the Comets preliminary roster. left-hander Logan Allen, who signed a minor league contract last week, is also with Oklahoma City.

Pitcher José Rodríguez, who was touted as a potential Rule 5 Draft pick last December but went unselected, was a non-roster invitee this spring training but did not pitch. He starts the season on the 60-day injured list, as does veteran first baseman Matt Gorski.

Oklahoma City preliminary roster

• Starting pitchers (4): Cole Irvin, Ryder Ryan, Cristian Romero, Carlos Duran
• Right-handed relievers (8): Kyle Hurt*, Paul Gervase*, Chris Campos, Keynan Middleton, Jordan Weems, Wyatt Mills, Antonio Knowles, Jerming Rosario
• Left-handed relievers (4): Ronan Kopp*, Antoine Kelly, Logan Allen Garrett McDaniels
• Catchers (2): Eliézer Alfonzo, Seby Zavala
• Infielders (4): Ryan Fitzgerald, Noah Miller, Nick Senzel, Austin Gauthier
• Outfielders (4): Michael Siani*, Ryan Ward*, Jack Suwinski, Zach Ehrhard
• Infielder/outfielders (2): Hyeseong Kim*, James Tibbs III
• Injured list (2): rhp José Rodríguez (60-day), 1b Matt Gorski (60-day)

The Comets will finalize the roster before Friday’s season opener.

Happy Opening Day, Braves Country! During Thursday’s presser, Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss informed the media that Drake Baldwin would be in the Opening Day lineup, but not behind the dish. Instead, Baldwin will be in the DH role while Jonah Heim is behind the plate. 

It’s a pretty interesting way to roll things out. The Braves still get Baldwin’s bat but don’t have to throw him straight into catching duties on day one. At the same time, Heim gives them a nice presence behind the plate, which should help the pitching staff settle in early. It feels like a simple way to get the best of both worlds from the jump.

Weiss gave a few other hints at how the lineup would shape up, like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Yastrzemski’s roles. The Braves kick off the 2026 campaign Friday evening with a matchup against the Kansas City Royals.

More Braves News:

The Braves reached a deal with Xfinity that will broadcast BravesVision, beginning today, March 27.

MLB News:

New York Mets non-roster outfielder Mike Tauchman will miss six weeks after undergoing meniscus surgery. 

Nico Hoerner and the Chicago Cubs agreed to a six-year extension. The financials of the contract have not been announced. 

The New York Mets and outfielder Tommy Pham agreed to a minor league deal. Should he be selected to the majors, he will earn a prorated salary of $2.25M.

The Milwaukee Brewers placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list due to a fracture in his left hand. He is expected to return in two to four weeks. 

There were fireworks, there was a flyover, there was Will Ferrell screaming and Keith Williams Jr. crooning and four months of cheers unleashed by fans wearing championship belts and howling grins.

But the real stars of Thursday’s Dodger opening day show never made a sound.

They arrived silently at the end of the pregame ceremony, carefully held by two of the men who helped win them, lifted high for all those who so passionately longed for them.

They were the last two Commissioner’s Trophies, the back-to-back World Series championship trophies, the two symbols of the Dodgers domination held side by side in the afternoon sun.

Man, it was beautiful. Goodness, how they sparkled. Incredible, how they glowed.

Read more:Miguel Rojas cherishes final opening day as 'Uncle Miggy' in Dodgers' win over Arizona

It was almost as if they were powered by some electrical force, some sort of championship current running between them, lighting them up with a blinding power curated by the battered fingers of the two veterans who touched them.

Freddie Freeman, whose grand slam doomed the New York Yankees, held the 2024 trophy. Miguel Rojas, whose home run stunned the Toronto Blue Jays, held the 2025 trophy.

Together they brought the trophies to the dugout from center field while riding in the back of a blue convertible driven by Ferrell as part of an elaborate video skit.

It was the first time many had seen the hardware side by side, and, amid audible gasps, their power was unmistakable. The greatness of the Dodgers accomplishment came to life on a day when their new task became equally clear.

“Three-peat!” screamed one of the pregame musicians.

Welcome, Dodgers, to 2026.

While manager Dave Roberts downplayed the three-peat talk before the opening 8-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, you know it’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere.

“At this moment, very minimal,” said Roberts when asked about the pressure. “...So yeah, hopefully we can keep that to a minimum throughout the season. But yeah, there’s obviously going to be a lot of talk about it.”

Thursday did nothing to dampen that talk. It was as if last season’s Game 7 against the Toronto Blue Jays was still being played. The Dodgers behaved like the exact same team with some of the same heroes.

The winning pitcher? Once again, it was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who threw six solid innings with six strikeouts and no walks.

The game-changing play? Once again, it was Andy Pages, whose three-run home run in the fifth inning gave the Dodgers a lead they never lost.

The final big blow? Yep, Will Smith, whose two-run homer in the seventh inning clinched it.

There was even a World Series star coming out of the bullpen, new cult hero Will Klein entering the game to the night’s loudest ovation and throwing a scoreless inning.

It’s as if the Dodgers have been on the same roll for four months…with no signs of slowing. This could be crazy. This already is crazy.

Other than the cool trophies and the Diamondbacks trampling, the most notable show Thursday was unwittingly staged by Dodger Stadium itself.

Your dutiful correspondent’s first impression of his favorite place on earth upon returning here for his 37th home opener wasn’t about the deep green or brilliant blue or enduring mountainscape.

It was, when did this place become Las Vegas?

Illuminated by the new grotesquely red Uniqlo Field billboard hanging high above center field, the stadium appears to have been transformed into something straight from NASCAR, advertisements filling every nook and cranny of the pavilion and beyond. There are giant billboards above the bullpens. There are scribbled ads on the bullpen walls. There are screaming displays for beer, soda and healthcare, the latter of which you will need if you heed too many of these ads.

The incessant sales pitches are buffeted by the usual deafening pounding music, which makes Vin Scully Avenue seem like Las Vegas Boulevard.

Was it always like this? It doesn’t seem like it. The Dodgers have always been relentless billboard salesmen, but since the arrival of Shohei Ohtani, they’ve become a global attraction with seemingly every major company on earth willing to pay for a piece of their success.

Fans will probably notice that the biggest difference this year is the $125-million sponsorship deal with Uniqlo, a Japanese apparel company that bought center field. Chavez Ravine is now officially known as Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium and, yeah, on Thursday it was awful hearing public address announcer Todd Leitz introduce it like that.

Not to worry, nobody in their right mind is ever going to call it that. Nonetheless, the whole atmosphere was weird and unsettling.

Still, it’s hard to blame the Dodgers. They’ve spent gobs of money building a two-time defending champion, and those bucks have got to come from somewhere.

You want Kyle Tucker? Live with the beer ad. You want a $1 billion rotation? Deal with the bank ad.

Unlike many other teams that have made baseball a haven for cheapskates, the Dodgers invest much of their revenue back into the roster.

It’s not always pretty. It can be loud and distracting and obnoxious. But it works.

As night fell on a blessed blue Thursday, the Dodgers had won their eighth straight home opener. They did it with pitching, hitting, depth, and two of the prettiest pieces of jewelry you’ve ever seen.

It was a day to celebrate the completion of the most incredible two-year journey in franchise history.

It was also a day to realize that the journey has just begun.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Apologies for the late thread, I went out to say hi to staffers John and Isabelle who are in attendance at the game tonight. Luke Raley hit that game-tying nuke just as I got up so maybe now that I’m sitting down again we can have another, this time a go-ahead one.

I want to start this recap by saying how grateful I am to be back for another season of Arizona Diamondbacks baseball with all of you. Today brought back all those familiar feelings from my childhood. Opening Day is always the best day of the year—a fresh wave of hope and optimism, the first sign of the dog days of summer ahead, and a welcome reunion with the friends we share this team with.

For D-backs fans, though, this nationally televised Opening Day felt more like a Dodgers home broadcast. Through the first three innings, we witnessed a classic pitchers’ duel between Zac Gallen and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The two matched each other inning for inning, with Gallen actually holding a slight edge in pitch count and efficiency.

The highlight for Arizona came in the top of the fourth, when last season’s team MVP Geraldo Perdomo launched a two-run homer to put the D-backs up 2-0. Sadly, the national announcers were so focused on the Dodgers that they sounded almost surprised by the blast—and the broadcast barely captured it, with just one replay and a poor camera angle.

The momentum shifted in the bottom of the fifth. With a lead in hand, Gallen hung a knuckle curve to the Dodgers’ eighth-hole hitter, Andy Pages, who crushed a three-run homer to give Los Angeles a 3-2 advantage. It was an all-too-familiar scene for Gallen on Opening Day. As Jesse Friedman of Snakes Territory pointed out, Gallen posted the exact same line last year: four innings pitched and four earned runs allowed.

That one pitch aside, Gallen actually looked quite sharp, showing excellent command of his four-seamer and generating good downward movement on his hard cutter/slider. It was a frustrating end to what had been a solid start.

Once the Dodgers took the lead, the game quickly became all LA. Torey Lovullo turned to much of his high-leverage bullpen early, but the Dodgers kept piling on runs. One of the D-backs’ key bullpen additions this offseason, Taylor Clark, had a rough introduction in the seventh, surrendering four earned runs while recording just one out. It was far from the debut the front office or Clark had hoped for, and it raised early questions about the 2026 bullpen.

After the Dodgers blew the game open, Arizona’s offense went completely quiet. Dodgers relievers retired 18 of the final 19 D-backs batters—a stark tale of two very different bullpens.

On the bright side, Jordan Lawlar had an encouraging debut to the 2026 season. He ripped a big double in his first at-bat and later made a spectacular highlight-reel catch in left field, crashing into the wall in the seventh inning. After a slow start to his 2025 campaign, this was exactly the kind of confident beginning the young infielder—and the team—needed.

It was also nice to see newcomer Nolan Arenado pick up his first hit in a D-backs uniform in the seventh. Here’s hoping it’s the start of a strong offensive rebound for the veteran. He also made a couple of great plays at the hot corner highlighting his defensive value early on in the season.

At the end of the day, it’s simply great to have meaningful baseball back. Opening Day remains a highlight of the year for so many of us. Unfortunately, today carried some echoes of last season: the D-backs looked competitive against one of the game’s top teams for about half the game, only for the bullpen to let things slip away and the contest to get out of reach.

What did you guys think of the start to the season?

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers offense proved too much to handle, putting up a pair of four-run innings to overwhelm the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers have won 16 times in their last 19 opening days, including the last five in a row.

Arizona starter Zac Gallen was cruising along nicely enough, allowing just a single and walk through four innings, and no Dodger reached scoring position. But the first five batters of the fifth inning reached against him, ending Gallen’s night.

In last year’s home opener, the Dodgers trailed by two runs in the fifth inning when Teoscar Hernández gave them the lead with a three-run home run. This year, Hernández reached on an infield single and was one of two who got a free ride home thanks to another outfielder — Andy Pages’ three-run shot brought home the Dodgers’ first three runs of the season, and gave them their first lead.

Will Smith reached on a cue shot just behind first base, just out of the reach of Carlos Santana, to extend the fifth and bring home a fourth run charged to Gallen’s ledger.

Smith also hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning, another four-run frame that also saw Kyle Tucker’s first hit as a Dodger, a ringing double that brought home Shohei Ohtani.

First time through the batting order, the Dodgers only had a single and a walk. The rest of the way, 14 of 31 batters reached base, including three extra-base hits. On the night, eight of nine Dodgers batters had a hit and scored a run. Only Freddie Freeman, who walked and was 0-for-4, was left wanting.

“When you face a lineup like ours, it certainly has to be taxing when you’re facing our guys, when you feel like you have to keep executing and executing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s tough mentally, and as long as we can stay tough mentally like we were tonight, we should have opportunities to put up big numbers.”

On the mound

For the third Dodgers game in a row Yoshinobu Yamamoto earned the win, this time with another quality start. His only runs allowed came in the fourth inning when Geraldo Perdomo blasted an 0-2 middle-middle fastball into the right field pavilion for a two-run home run to open the scoring.

Yamamoto settled down after that, retiring his next nine batters, including four by strikeout, to finish six innings, just as he did in 22 of his 35 starts last season.

On the night, Yamamoto struck out six and walked none. He threw his splitter the most often, and got eight swinging strikes on the pitch, of his 16 total whiffs in the game.

Yamamoto left with a 4-2 lead, and Blake Treinen worked around a single to pitch a scoreless seventh inning in what was still a close game. Will Klein, after making his first opening day roster, pitched a perfect eighth before Tanner Scott got the ninth to finish off the win.

Opening day particulars

Home runs: Andy Pages (1), Will Smith (1); Geraldo Perdomo (1)

WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0): 6 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 6 strikeouts

LP — Zac Gallen (0-1): 4+ IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Up next

Another day, another pregame ceremony for the Dodgers, who get their 2025 championship rings on Friday night before the middle game against the Diamondbacks (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Emmet Sheehan starts on the mound, with Ryne Nelson pitching for Arizona. The ring ceremony begins at 6:20 p.m. and will be televised by SportsNet LA.

SAN DIEGO — Opening Day here is supposed to feel like hope and possibility. 

Beneath a beautiful Southern California sun reflecting off the brick Western Metal Supply Co. building at Petco Park, there was plenty of promise for the Padres. The first of 162 games, a chance to hit the reset button after back-to-back early playoff exits. 

But that’s not what happened. Instead, what showed up in brown and yellow on Thursday wasn’t a World Series contender shaking off October scars, it was a team that looked eerily similar to the one that walked off Wrigley Field last fall.

Padres ace Nick Pivetta lost the opener of that NL wild-card series against the Cubs as well, and his Opening Day start this season went even worse. 

Pivetta, the supposed anchor of this rotation after a breakout season, unraveled almost immediately. Three walks in the first inning. Four runs before the Padres could even exhale. When he was pulled in the third without recording an out, the game — and maybe the tone of the early season — had already been decided.

“I was disconnected and out of rhythm,” Pivetta said. “I didn’t make pitches when I needed to, and it snowballed on me.”

Snowballed is a polite way to put it.

This was an avalanche, and it came from the Captain and the Kid. A veteran pitcher with two Cy Young Awards to his name, and a 21-year-old rookie making his MLB debut. 

Tarik Skubal and Kevin McGonigle.

And if baseball handed out captain’s patches the way hockey does, Skubal wouldn’t just wear the “C” —he’d define it.

That’s what this was. A masterclass in control paired with a coming-of-age moment that felt almost unfair to witness from the opposing dugout.

Skubal didn’t just pitch. He carved up the Padres like a surgeon on the operating table.

Six innings. Three hits. No walks. Six strikeouts. One unearned run that barely registers as a blemish. He moved through the Padres’ lineup like a man flipping through pages he’s already memorized. Every pitch had intention. Every sequence had consequence. There was no panic, no wasted motion, no doubt about what the eventual outcome would be.

This is what dominance looks like when it’s fully realized.

“He’s the best in the game, and he’s coming aggressive,” said Ramon Laureano, who hit a solo home run. “They have a really good team with good pitching. It’s not going to be easy.”

That might be the most honest sentence spoken inside that clubhouse all day.

Because on the other side of the Captain was the Kid, something far more chaotic yet somehow just as dangerous.

McGonigle is 21 years old. Barely old enough to legally toast his own debut. And yet, on the first pitch of his MLB career, he didn’t blink. He didn’t ease in. He didn’t “get his feet wet.”

He detonated.

A two-run double down the right field line off Pivetta. It cracked the game open before most fans had settled into their seats. It wasn’t just a hit — it was a declaration.

Welcome to the show? No.

This was a takeover.

McGonigle finished 4 for 5 with two RBI and two runs, looking less like a kid and more like a problem that’s about to linger in the American League for a long time. There’s a certain audacity to greatness when it arrives early, when it skips the awkward phase entirely and walks straight into relevance. He played like he’d already been here for years.

And the Padres? They looked like they hadn’t.

Because while Detroit arrived with clarity — an ace who knows exactly who he is and a rookie fearless enough to swing like it — the Padres arrived with more questions than answers. The same ones that haunted them through back-to-back postseason disappointments. The same ones that lingered after falling to the Dodgers in 2024 and getting bounced by the Cubs in 2025.

Because the Padres didn’t just lose 8-2. They were exposed.

Exposed as a team still searching for its edge. Exposed as a lineup that can be carved up by elite pitching. Exposed as a roster that, despite its talent, still hasn’t figured out how to respond when the moment tightens instead of loosens.

Opening Day is supposed to be about hope. About rewriting the narrative from the year prior.

Instead, San Diego got a reminder that narratives don’t change just because the calendar does.

They change when you force them to change.

And on Thursday, it wasn’t the Padres doing the forcing. It was Skubal, calmly dictating terms like a veteran captain steering through open water. It was McGonigle, swinging like the future doesn’t wait its turn.

The Captain and the Kid didn’t just spoil Opening Day.

They revealed exactly how far the Padres still have to go.

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Good job, everyone. We technically got to 615 comments on the first thread before the first pitch was thrown in inning number two. Take that, Pinstripe Alley.

Now on with more Opening Day!

Paul Skenes gave a rather analytical breakdown of his abysmal Opening Day start against the Mets on Thursday.

When asked by reporters about his outing in the Pirates’ 11-7 loss to the Amazin’s, Skenes said that despite not giving up much hard contact, his batting average on balls in play was high, causing his start to go awry quickly, as he only recorded two outs before being yanked.

“You got to look at it through, for what it is,” Skenes said. “There wasn’t a ton of hard contact. Leadoff walk is not great. But yeah … the Polanco ground ball, stuff like that. The batting average on balls in play thing was super high today. That’ll go down as the season goes on.”

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Skenes left Thursday’s game after just two-thirds innings in which he gave up five earned runs — matching his career high — off four hits, along with a walk and two strikeouts.

“I’m not as upset about this for me, personally, as people would probably think,” Skenes said, according to The Associated Press. “Because they did a really good job. It was an abnormal outing.”

Skenes’ batting average on balls in play (BABIP) sits at .800 following his short-lived start.

Pirates skipper Don Kelly pulled Skenes after just 37 pitches, saying that he did not want the righty to push it this early into the season.

“He wants to stay out there and pitch,” Kelly said. “It’s a really tough thing going to get him in the first inning right there. The bottom of it is Paul’s health. You’re getting close to 40 pitches, yeah 37 pitches and Lindor had a seven-pitch at-bat that first at-bat.

“If he runs another 7-10, you’re into dangerous territory with the starting pitcher in one inning, so we had to make the move.”

Not all of the Pirates’ first-inning meltdown was strictly on Skenes, though, with center fielder Oneil Cruz misplaying two fly balls that extended the early rally for the Mets.

“That ball straight at him, he came in, got a bad read,” Kelly said. “He’s been working hard out there. He just needs to continue to get better. Then the one in the sun. He just lost it in the sun.”

The Dodgers broke out the gold caps. Rolled out the blue carpet. And enlisted an actual movie star.

The team might have been kicking off its new 2026 season Thursday night, hosting the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium for Opening Day.

But everything before first pitch focused on last year –– when the team won its second straight World Series championship and cemented a dynasty that was worthy of a Hollywood pregame celebration five months later.

“It’s like the same thing that happened with the parade,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said earlier in the afternoon. “The first time, you don’t know what to expect, and it goes by fast. But this year, you know what to expect. You know how you’re gonna be feeling. You’re gonna have a better understanding of, ‘OK, I want to be present. I don’t want to miss much of it.’”

Rojas didn’t.

Instead, in a 30-minute on-field presentation that included every outside-the-box idea the club could seemingly think of –– from pyrotechnic player introductions, to fighter jet flyovers, to a ceremonial first pitch delivered from Magic Johnson to Shohei Ohtani, and of course the unveiling of the franchise’s ninth championship banner and outfield plaque –– it was Rojas and fellow World Series hero Freddie Freeman who were the leading stars of the show.

First, the pair were featured in a video skit with actor Will Ferrell that was played on the Dodger Stadium scoreboards –– in which Ferrell sneaks around the Dodgers’ clubhouse with the team’s two most recent World Series trophies before being discovered by the players.

Then, from out of the center field fence, Rojas and Freeman appeared on the back of a Dodger blue Cadillac driven by Ferrell, holding up the two Commissioner’s Trophies as the car paced around the warning track.

A special introduction for the Champs. pic.twitter.com/j5BnLjnC4S

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 27, 2026

It was overwrought, completely cheesy, yet devoured all the same by an adoring and raucous sell-out crowd. 

In recent years, the Dodgers have become known for their ambitious in-game presentation almost as much as their on-field dominance. And on Thursday, they took their chance to combine both.

Eventually, attention turned to the actual game action, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto kicking off the team’s bid for a World Series three-peat with a 5:30 p.m. first pitch.

Still, celebratory remembrances of the team’s 2025 title aren’t over yet.

On Friday, there will be another pregame ceremony in which the members of last year’s roster will receive their World Series rings.

And from there, three-peat pressure will follow the Dodgers throughout the season, as they try to become only the third team in MLB’s expansion era (since 1961) to win a title in three straight seasons.

“Yeah, it’s out there, but you’ve got to kind of block it out and focus on playing,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But understandably so, we put ourselves in a good spot that people want to talk about it. That’s a good thing.”

For the Dodgers, so, too, was the elongated pregame ceremony celebrating it all.