Ohtani debut a smash
SEOUL — The Dodgers started their Shohei Ohtani era with a memorable win on a night of firsts.
Ohtani’s RBI single capped a four-run, eighth-inning rally in his Dodgers debut, and Los Angeles beat the Padres, 5-2, in Wednesday night’s opener, Major League Baseball’s first game in South Korea.
“Just a good night overall for Shohei,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The bigger picture it’s significant because you’ve got such a generational talent that is on your ballclub in a big market in Los Angeles. There’s a lot more eyeballs on the Dodgers and on Major League Baseball.”
The game turned when a routine grounder went through the webbing of the glove of first baseman Jake Cronenworth as the go-ahead run scored.
Ohtani went 2 for 5 with an RBI in his first game since leaving the Angels for a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Dodgers. A crowd of 15,952 was on hand to watch at the Gocheok Sky Dome.
The two-way star, limited to batting following elbow surgery, also had a mental error that caused the final out of the eighth. He was called out when he passed second base and then failed to retouch the bag while retreating on Freddie Freeman’s fly out, causing an inning-ending double play.
A bomb threat did not seem to affect pregame preparations. Police found no explosives and said they acted on a tip that the threat was against Ohtani.
Padres pitchers walked nine and hit a batter, and the Dodgers had seven hits, none for extra bases.
San Diego led, 2-1, entering the eighth when Max Muncy started with a walk against Wandy Peralta. Teoscar Hernández, also making his Dodgers debut, singled off Jhony Brito (0-1), among the players the Padres obtained in the trade that sent star Juan Soto to the Yankees.
James Outman walked and
Kiké Hernández’s sacrifice fly tied the score. Adrián Morejón relieved and Gavin Lux hit a chopper to Cronenworth that the two-time All-Star tried to backhand. The ball went through the webbing of the large first baseman’s mitt.
“It could have gone through innings before that,” Cronenworth said. “I thought it was an easy double play.”
Hernández came home for a 3-2 lead.
“That’s a tough error for Cro,” Roberts said. “Fortunate break for us.”
Mookie Betts and Ohtani followed with RBI singles.
Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman became the first MVPs to hit 12-3 in a batting order since Philadelphia’s Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, and Mike Schmidt during 10 games in 1983.
The only other instances were by Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, with Rose, Morgan, and George Foster on May 13, 1978, and Rose, Morgan, and Johnny Bench on May 5, 1976.
Betts, moved to shortstop this season, combined with Ohtani to go 4 for 9 at the top of the order.