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A bird defecating on a person’s head promises good fortune, according to the old superstition. 

There is less information established about the dark or promising omens when a bird dies nearby in your major league debut, but maybe Carson Benge will be the test case. 

On an afternoon that had a bit of everything — a phrase that nearly applies literally in this case — the Mets’ exciting rookie first sunk, then soared, then watched a bird soar and then sink in a scintillating and strange 11-7 Mets Opening Day victory over the Pirates at Citi Field. 

How did this measure up to your expectations, Carson? 

“Everything and more,” Benge said, accurately, after a Thursday that was mostly wondrous and part bizarre. 

First, the wondrous: Every at-bat from the club’s No. 2 prospect looked stronger than the previous one. He struck out twice, first against Paul Skenes — “Calm down,” Benge told himself after the three-pitch strikeout. “Deep breath, calm down.” — then Yohan Ramirez, before an impressive fight against lefty Mason Montgomery in the fifth. Benge dug a 1-2 hole before fouling off two pitches and letting three balls go by, earning an eight-pitch walk. 

With a bit more familiarity and feeling better about himself, Benge stepped up in the sixth inning, got a first-pitch sweeper from Pittsburgh’s Justin Lawrence and smoked a home run to right field. 

A person known as a baseball player and not an entertainer — a throwback who does not show much emotion on the field — made an exception. The 23-year-old watched the ball fly, touched first base and took a leap, his back to home plate, while his arms crept toward his torso and flexed. The moment he had dreamt about as a child had become a reality. 

“I just got chills,” said Benge, who was a spring star and only learned Monday that he won an Opening Day job. “This is where I’m supposed to be and just having fun.” 

He resumed his gait, rounded the bases and arrived at a rocking dugout. Manager Carlos Mendoza “told me it’s fun here,” Benge relayed with a smile. “I was like, ‘You’re right.’ ” 

He went through the high-five line, which was punctuated not by a slapping of hands but a big hug from Juan Soto. 

From there, Benge heard the sold-out crowd swell louder until he made his way to the top step of the dugout, where he took a curtain call. 

“It means the world,” said Benge — whose parents made the trip from Oklahoma, and who had 22 friends and family at the park. “Having all the people that have sacrificed so much for me come up and watch that happen is definitely big.” 

Offensively, Benge added a five-pitch walk in the eighth and swiped second base, which was the last normal “first” he could check off. There was the bizarre one — perhaps one proving that Benge can take whatever that is thrown at him in stride. 

Late in the game, “I heard a thud,” Benge said. He looked over and a bird had fallen from the sky a few feet away in right field. 

“I looked over and it was just down,” Benge said. “Down for the count.” 

He did not panic, his eyes trained on the batter. At least on the field, he appeared to be the only one aware of the animal. 

“I just looked around and was like, is anyone going to grab this?” Benge said. “No one was looking at it, so I wasn’t about to stop the game for it.” 

Unfortunately for him, the fans noticed, too, and they began chanting for him to pick it up. He declined, and after the frame a stadium worker ran onto the field and removed the bird, ending a surreal first day of Benge’s major league life. 

Is this a good or bad sign? 

“I’m not superstitious,” Benge said. “It worked out.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Boone likes to call this the week of overreactions.

Small sample sizes in the opening days of the season can provide dangerous fodder from which to make sweeping conclusions.

But given that this group of Yankees hitters had a substantial run together last season on the way to scoring the most runs in the majors, there was a little more legitimacy behind their reminder Wednesday night of what they are capable of on a daily basis — rolling deep and making life tough for opposing pitchers.

“I think you got a lot of different guys with a lot of different abilities,” said Austin Wells, who chipped in two hits out of the nine-hole in a 7-0 win over the Giants at Oracle Park.

“I think it blends really well and we all feed off each other. Starting with [Trent Grisham] at the top and working its way down, one through nine, that’s how it played out [Wednesday] and it’s been playing out for the last half-year.”

On many nights over the course of the season, the Yankees will crush homers or jump on Aaron Judge’s back to rack up wins.

But since this group has been playing together after last year’s trade deadline, it has also shown the ability to have nights like Wednesday, when it racks up 10 hits — nine of them singles, with Grisham’s two-run triple being the only exception — with a well-balanced attack.

“I think we can beat you a lot of different ways,” Boone said. 

Boone noted some of the Yankees’ aggressiveness on the bases paying off — such as Giancarlo Stanton scoring from second on José Caballero’s single to left field, Caballero hustling into second on the play when the throw went toward third base, and later Jazz Chisholm Jr. beating out a double play and forcing an errant throw that allowed Ben Rice to score from third.

Even more encouraging was the production from the bottom of the lineup, which fueled the five-run second inning and took the pressure off Judge, who went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.

“I think guys were just going up there, doing what the game asked them to do, take their knock and we put a bunch of balls in play, found a couple holes and ended up putting up a good number,” Ryan McMahon said. “No easy outs. If we can just [keep] stacking those good at-bats, hopefully good things like that keep happening.”

The Yankees will try to show off more of their lineup depth Friday, when Boone plans to play all of his right-handed hitters against Giants lefty Robbie Ray (the only southpaw scheduled to face the Yankees this trip).

That could mean Paul Goldschmidt leading off and playing first base (for Ben Rice), Amed Rosario manning third (for McMahon) and Randal Grichuk starting in left field (with Cody Bellinger sliding to center and Grisham on the bench).

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?

It took the Dodgers four innings to knock the rust off.

Then, the two-time defending World Series champions finally started looking like themselves.

In an 8-2 Opening Day win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, the Dodgers began their season exactly as advertised –– riding a relentlessly deep lineup and dominant starting pitching performance to a season-opening rout in front of 53,712 at Dodger Stadium.

The pursuit of a third-straight title couldn’t have started any better.

Even after falling behind early on Geraldo Perdomo’s two-run homer in the fourth, then entering the bottom of the fifth without a hit since Shohei Ohtani’s single to lead off the game, the Dodgers couldn’t be stopped once their offense got into gear.

The team exploded for four runs in the fifth, highlighted by Andy Pages’ go-ahead three-run home run off Arizona starter Zac Gallen.

They managed another four-spot in the seventh, when Kyle Tucker hit an RBI double in the gap for his first Dodgers hit, Mookie Betts drove him home with an RBI single up the middle, and Will Smith delivered the knockout blow with a two-run blast to left-center. 

That was more than enough on a night Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched six strong innings, striking out six batters and retiring the final nine he faced after Perdomo’s home run.

It also gave some instant validation to the team’s belief that this could be the best roster they’ve ever assembled.

“As far as the talent, the complete buy-in, this team is,” manager Dave Roberts said before first pitch. “But like I’ve said every single year, we’ve still got to go out there and play.”

One game in, they’re already playing well.

What it means

The way these Dodgers are constructed, with a lineup that includes six combined MVP awards and 33 All-Star appearances, there’s no one superstar that needs to shoulder the load.

Thursday was a quick reminder why.

After all, it was the bottom of the lineup that provided the biggest turning point, with Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández leading off the fifth with back-to-back singles before Pages’ blast. 

Ohtani didn’t have another hit after his leadoff single, yet scored a key insurance run on Tucker’s double after getting hit by a pitch.

And by the end of the night, the club had racked up more walks (five) than strikeouts (four), applying constant pressure on an Arizona pitching staff that –– like most the Dodgers are likely to face this year –– eventually cracked under the strain.

Who’s hot

Pages was Roberts’ so-called “pick to click” coming into the season, with the manager believing more in the young slugger’s 27-homer regular season last year than his .078 batting average in the playoffs.

On Thursday, Pages made a strong first impression with a 2-for-4, three-RBI display.

Not only did he hit the key home run, getting to a two-strike curveball from Gallen that was launched to left-field pavilion, but he also made two impressive catches in center field: The first, on a deep fly ball to the left-center field gap; then, a diving effort on a shallow flare in right-center that helped Blake Treinen –– pitching the only high-leverage relief inning of the game with a two-run lead in the seventh –– get throught a scoreless frame.

Who’s not

Right now? Nobody. Freddie Freeman was the only Dodgers player without a hit on Thursday. But even he drew a key walk that helped set up an RBI single from Smith following Pages’ homer in the fifth. He also saved a run defensively, getting Yamamoto out of a jam in the third by snagging a high line drive at first base and turning an inning-ending double-play.

Up next

The Dodgers and Dbacks will be back at it on Friday night. Emmet Sheehan will start for the Dodgers, while Ryne Nelson will go for Arizona.

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Francisco Alvarez took hitting ninth in the lineup in stride. He credited the depth of the Mets’ order rather than questioning his place in it. 

“I was just thinking [upon seeing the one through nine] that we have a good lineup. We have a team that has nine good hitters,” Alvarez said through interpreter Alan Suriel after making a case — solely with his bat — that he does not belong at the bottom of the order for much longer. 

The young Mets catcher smashed three pitches and wound up with two hits — one a demolished home run that visited the second deck in left field — in addition to saving the club a run defensively in an all-around excellent performance in Thursday’s 11-7 Opening Day victory over the Pirates at Citi Field. 

Coming up through the system, Alvarez was the best prospect in baseball largely because of a powerful bat that has only shown glimpses of its excellence in 304 major league games over parts of four seasons. He was demoted midseason last year, scrapped a new batting stance and returned in late July, after which he was among the better hitters in baseball despite tearing the UCL in his thumb late in the year. 

And he picked up where he left off in reaching base three times in five plate appearances, crushing a single into right and smoking the homer to left in the sixth inning, going back-to-back with Carson Benge. 

On a promising day from nearly the entirety of the Mets lineup — which fought through long at-bats, forced Pittsburgh pitching to expend 192 pitches in eight frames and scored 11 runs — the 24-year-old was among the standouts. 

“I feel good. I feel really good,” Alvarez said about his swing. “I’ve been able to do my job in the cage, work on it and work on what I want and really maintain the mechanics of just staying strong and consistent.” 

For all the good in Alvarez’s bat, it is possible his brain provided his greatest impact on the game. 

In the top of a third inning of a contest the Mets were leading 5-2, Freddy Peralta appeared to lose Oneil Cruz to a one-out walk on a full-count fastball. The pitch, Alvarez acknowledges, was a difficult one for home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson to judge. 

“I called for a fastball away, and Freddy missed up and in,” said Alvarez, who had to jerk his glove from the outside of the zone to the inside. “So it’s hard for the umpire to be able to see that.” 

It was less hard for Alvarez to judge the pitch. He touched his catcher’s mask and signaled for the Mets’ first Automated Ball-Strike challenge. 

“I felt pretty confident about it,” said Alvarez, who watched as replay showed the pitch buzzed the inside of the plate and thus Cruz had struck out rather than walked. 

The decision to challenge effectively saved the Mets a run, as two pitches later Peralta served up a solo shot — and not a two-run shot — to Brandon Lowe.

Aaron Blank had an inkling he might catch a home run at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.

After all, the guy specifically moved his season tickets to center field this offseason to chase prized souvenirs.

And, sure enough, in the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ season opener against the Diamondbacks, an Andy Pages blast found its way right into his mitt.

Andy Pages gives the @Dodgers the lead with a 3-run shot! pic.twitter.com/E2litXlFw1

— MLB (@MLB) March 27, 2026

Blank snared the go-ahead, three-run shot — the first home run of the Dodgers’ 2026 season — and told The California Post minutes later that the moment was specifically why he wanted to sit in that part of the ballpark this year.

“We sat by the foul pole in home run territory last year, the whole season,” Blank said. “And we moved. This is our first game sitting here. We moved our seats here because we wanted to catch home run balls.”

“It’s amazing,” he added.

Blank said he’s only caught one other homer in his life, and that came some three years ago while he was in the crowd for the MLB’s Home Run Derby in Seattle.

His latest memento clearly felt a little sweeter for the man who was clad in a Dodgers jersey and LA hat.

“It is the first home run ball of the year for the champions,” he said. “So, you never know. It could be valuable.”

That said, Blank told The Post if Pages or the Dodgers’ want it back, he’s open to talks.

“If the Dodgers approach me,” he said, “I’m game.”

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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.