The Los Angeles Dodgers began their quest for a three-peat with an 8-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks thanks to the games turned in by Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Andy Pages.
The Dodgers are now 4-0 on Opening Day at home against the Diamondbacks in their history, with wins in 1999 (8-6), 2019 (12-5) and 2023 (8-2). The Dodgers are 5-0 against the D-Backs on Opening Day overall, winning in 2003 (8-0) at Chase Field and 2014 (3-1) in Australia as the road team.
In addition, the Dodgers are 40-29 on Opening Day since 1958, and they are 15-3 in their last 18 Opening Day matchups.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes historic start
Yamamoto joined Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers in Dodgers history to be named World Series MVP and start the club’s Opening Day game the following season. He also became the first Dodgers pitcher to start back-to-back Opening Days since Clayton Kershaw started eight straight from 2011-2018.
The right-hander continued his dominance from last season. He went six innings while allowing two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks while making 95 pitches.
The D-Backs did their damage against Yamamoto in the fourth inning when Geraldo Perdomo blasted a home run after a single from Corbin Carroll.
Andy Pages leads Dodgers offense in comeback
The Dodgers’ offense was quiet for the first four innings of the game, with Shohei Ohtani being the only baserunner to reach on a leadoff single in the fourth inning.
But things turned around in the fifth when Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández hit back-to-back singles to open up the frame. Pages then followed with a three-run homer, the first by a Dodgers player this season, to put them ahead by one run.
The offense didn’t stop there as Miguel Rojas singled, Ohtani and Freddie Freeman walked, and Will Smith hit an infield single to give the Dodgers their fourth run of the inning.
The Dodgers also added on in the seventh. Fresh off signing a four-year, $240 million contract, Kyle Tucker picked up his first hit with the club, an RBI-double that drove in Ohtani. He then scored when Betts singled to increase the lead to 6-2.
From there, the game started to become a blowout as Will Smith blasted his first home run of the year to put the Dodgers ahead 8-2.
Every player in the Dodgers’ lineup reached base at least once.
Dodgers bullpen shuts down Diamondbacks
Blake Treinen was the first man out of the Dodgers’ bullpen in 2026, and he tossed a scoreless inning while allowing one hit and striking out one.
Will Klein followed with a perfect eighth inning, needing just nine pitches. Tanner Scott got the ninth inning, retiring all three batters faced.
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