For all the memorable cultural experiences they enjoyed off the field, and all their eye-opening revelations they about the club’s growing popularity here in Japan, the baseball side of the Dodgers’ season-opening trip to Tokyo hadn’t gotten off to the most seamless of starts.

Mookie Betts was ruled out of action after arriving in Tokyo battling a stomach virus, and eventually forced to make an early return home to Los Angeles on Monday night after losing almost 15 pounds.

Freddie Freeman was scratched from the opening-day lineup shortly before first pitch Tuesday night, after experiencing discomfort in the same left rib where he suffered broken cartilage during last year’s postseason.

And, after getting shut out in a Sunday exhibition against a Japanese team at the Tokyo Dome, the Dodgers began their season without a hit for the first four innings against Chicago Cubs ace and star Japanese left-hander Shota Imanaga, twice coming up empty in innings they drew two walks.

Read more:Hernández: If Yoshinobu Yamamoto keeps this up, he absolutely can be 'in the Cy Young conversation'

But then, the defending World Series champions started doing exactly what their nearly $400-million roster was built to do.

They worked counts, strung together hits and manufactured runs. They leaned on dominant starting pitching, then a revolving door of reliable arms out of the bullpen. They absorbed an early one-run deficit and flipped it in a matter of moments in the fifth inning.

By the end of the night, it amounted to an auspicious start to a season of ambitious expectations, the Dodgers beating the Cubs 4-1 before a pro-Dodgers crowd on the other side of the globe.

“It was really cool,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “It’s always cool to experience different baseball cultures. I know we get a little spoiled playing at Dodger Stadium and our atmosphere is always amazing. But it’s just fun to experience different cultures.”

This week’s trip always was destined to be about more than just playing baseball. It was a culmination of sorts in the Dodgers’ pursuit to “paint Japan blue,” and an opportunity to showcase the sport at large at a time the influence of Japanese players in the majors seemingly is at an all-time high.

“I don’t think that there was a Japanese baseball player in Japan that didn’t watch this game tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said.

The Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto squared off against Imanaga in the first all-Japanese opening-day pitching matchup in major league history, giving up just one run in five strong innings while striking out four and averaging almost 97 mph with his fastball.

Another highly anticipated pitching plan awaits in Wednesday’s finale, when Roki Sasaki will make his big league debut barely two months removed from his offseason signing with the Dodgers.

And then there was Shohei Ohtani, who had cameras following his every move during pregame ceremonies and caused a hush to fall over the sold-out crowd when he came to the plate for the first time.

“I usually don’t get nervous hitting,” Ohtani said in Japanese afterward.

But in that at-bat, he acknowledged, “I was nervous for the first time in a while.”

Determined not to walk, Ohtani took a big swing that resulted in a game-opening ground out, setting the tone for Imanaga’s dominant but shortened four-inning start.

Once Imanaga left the game, however, Ohtani played a key role in the Dodgers’ three-run rally in the fifth. He hit a one-out single, the Dodgers’ first hit, that preceded Tommy Edman’s game-tying single. Ohtani then scored the go-ahead run on an errant throw from Cubs second baseman Jon Berti on a potential double play.

Ohtani contributed again in the ninth, roping a double into the right-field corner before scoring an insurance run on Teoscar Hernández’s single.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Shohei nervous,” Roberts said. “But one thing I did notice is how emotional he got during the Japanese national anthem. That was really something that was very telling, how emotional he was.”

Once the Dodgers took the lead, however, cruising the rest of the way behind a dominant bullpen performance punctuated by offseason signing Tanner Scott’s first save with the club, Ohtani seemed to loosen up in the dugout, laughing with teammates and soaking in the scene.

“That’s who he is,” Muncy said. “There’s no moment that’s too big for that guy. He hasn’t changed who he is. He’s a really cool guy to be a teammate with. He’s going to be talked about probably when he’s done as being the greatest baseball player ever and he doesn’t act like it. He just likes to have fun in that dugout.”

Someone who was having less fun being stuck in the dugout: Freeman, who said he “felt something” in his ribs during his last round of batting practice, leading to a pregame meeting with Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes in which they decided it was best to play it safe and sit the reigning World Series most valuable player.

“I got out-ruled,” Freeman joked. “It’s OK. It was probably smart. It’s obviously way better than last year. Last year I needed help getting to my car that first day [I got hurt]. I can walk. I can take deep breaths. Just felt a little something in my rib, and with it being the first game, we didn’t want it to be something lingering.”

Freeman said he has a 75% chance of playing Wednesday, assuming his rib doesn't bother him again during pregame activities. He added that the team’s head physician, Neal ElAttrache, told him the sensation might just have been the result of scar-tissue buildup where his old injury healed, perhaps coinciding with his increased cage work in recent days (Freeman was the only Dodgers position player to hit during Monday’s off-day workout).

“I thought we made the right decision not playing him tonight, and we’ll see how he comes in tomorrow,” Roberts said. “So right now, I’m not too concerned.”

Read more:Dodgers vs. Cubs live updates: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto shine in opening win

So goes things for the Dodgers. They’ve weathered their first bouts of adversity on the field. They’ve embraced a trip that has put them on an international stage. And on Tuesday they did it while also starting their season with a thorough victory, setting up the opportunity for a two-game sweep.

“How the fans were into the game tonight was just really cool, really fun, really enjoyed it,” Muncy said. “They’re here to watch good baseball and I think they’re enjoying it just as much as we are.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

When Roki Sasaki signed with the Dodgers, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed that one of Sasaki’s goals was to become the first Japanese pitcher to win a Cy Young Award.

Another pitcher on the Dodgers could steal that distinction from Sasaki, and the most likely candidate might not even be Shohei Ohtani.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto could beat his two countrymen to the honor, and considering how he pitched in the Dodgers’ season-opening 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs at the Tokyo Dome, who’s to say he won’t?

“If he can do that, obviously health [permitting], I see no reason why he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Read more:Dodgers open season with Tokyo Series win as 'nervous' Shohei Ohtani is front and center

This wasn’t the pitcher who looked unsure of himself over an up-and-down regular season last year. This was the pitcher who was an October hero.

Yamamoto touched 98 mph with his fastball. He baited hitters with splitters that looked like strikes but weren’t. He limited the Cubs to one run and three hits over five innings.

The performance confirmed what Dodgers players and coaches said in spring training: The 26-year-old Yamamoto returned for his second major league season a different pitcher.

“You know he’s electric when his teammates that are professional pitchers are telling you, ‘Hey, Doc, watch him,’” team physician Neal ElAttrache told Jack Harris and me on The Times’ video podcast Dodgers Debate.

ElAttrache said he complimented rehabilitating veteran Clayton Kershaw after a recent long-toss session, and Kershaw told him, “You want to see something special, watch Yamamoto do this.”

Yamamoto pointed to an improved feel for his pitching mechanics as to why he’s looked the way he has.

“I threw with a good center of gravity, good balance,” Yamamoto said in Japanese. “I wasn’t trying to throw with greater strength than usual, but I thought I was able to throw pitches to which my strength was transferred.”

What made him special Tuesday night was what he did with those pitches.

“Last year to this year, the confidence, the conviction that he has in throwing the fastball in the strike zone, he’s much more convicted,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers’ postseason run that ended with a World Series championship is why, according to Yamamoto.

“What I experienced in that month really made me confident,” Yamamoto said. “If I do this, I’ll get hit. If I feel like this and do this, I’ll be able to hold them. I didn’t have a precise feel for that last season, but I gained that sense in October.”

His average fastball velocity was 96.8 mph against the Cubs, up from his season average of 95.5 last year, according to Major League Baseball’s Statcast system.

The fastball alone troubled the Cubs. Throw in his splitter and they had little to no chance.

“His splits were outstanding tonight,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “They’re 93, 94 on the split-finger. It’s a pitch that you hope to get a couple of free ones on because they’re out of the zone. But he threw so many competitive splits. It’s a really tough pitch to lay off.”

The uncertainty with Yamamoto pertains to whether he can stay healthy. He was sidelined for nearly three months last year because of shoulder problems.

“He had the kind of injury that if you catch it early, you can prevent it from going south,” ElAttrache said. “When that injury goes south, it can be pretty significant.

“When we explained to him what we needed to do and why, he wasn’t happy about sitting for that length of time. He was constantly saying that he felt good enough to come back, but he went along with it.

“I think that you see how he played towards the end of the season. He was really important for us.”

Yamamoto had a disastrous postseason debut, giving up five runs in three innings to the San Diego Padres in the opening game of the National League Division Series. However, counting his victory in Game 5 of that series, he went 2-0 with a 1.72 earned-run average over his next three playoff starts.

“I feel that’s connected to the confidence I have when I take the mound [now],” Yamamoto said.

Standing 5 feet 10, Yamamoto doesn’t have the physical frame of either Ohtani or Sasaki. He doesn’t throw as hard. But he could be a better pitcher than either of them, and that could earn him his own place in history.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Monday, in case you missed it...

• Griffin Canning struck out nine batters over 4.2 dominant innings as he continued to make a case for a spot in the starting rotation
• Also in the rotation battle, Paul Blackburnwas solid in the Mets' other split squad game on Monday
• While Canning, Blackburn, and Tylor Megill are competing for the final two spots in the rotation, it seems likely that all three will make the Opening Day roster
• At a possible career crossroads, Brett Batyis focused on capitalizing on his chance at second base
• Brandon Nimmo, who has been dealing with a knee issue, played the outfield for the first time since Feb. 28
• Dedniel Núñez made his spring training debut, hitting 98 mph with his fastball during a perfect inning
• Jose Butto, who had been out of game action for just over a week due to a groin issue, returned to toss a scoreless frame
• Jesse Winker left Monday's game early due to cramps, but is expected to be fine
• Carlos Mendozadiscussed the in-season bullpen plan
• Ryan Clifford was named to the All-Spring Breakout First Team
• WATCH: Nimmo on returning to the outfield
• WATCH: Canning reacts to his outing