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Dodgers begin title defense by beating Diamondbacks on Opening Day

March 27, 2026

LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t just a new beginning – it was two big innings.

The Dodgers hit the Arizona Diamondbacks with a two-by-four on Opening Day, using a pair of four-run innings highlighted by home runs from Andy Pages and Will Smith to beat the Diamondbacks, 8-2, on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

As part of the orchestrated pregame pomp and pageantry on Opening Day, Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas were “late” to the introductions, eventually arriving in a Cadillac driven by actor Will Ferrell with the 2024 and 2025 World Series trophies in hand.

The offense was late to the party too.

A sellout crowd of 53,712 turned out to watch World Series hero after World Series hero introduced – relief pitcher Will Klein got one of the loudest ovations for his Game 3 heroics – and the latest championship banner raised. They had time to catch their breath after that.

Shohei Ohtani led off the first inning with a single. But Zac Gallen retired 12 of the next 13 Dodgers, a walk to Max Muncy in the second providing the two-time defending champions’ only other baserunner through the first four innings.

World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto became the fifth pitcher in the divisional era (since 1969) and the first since Madison Bumgarner in 2014 to close out a World Series and start the following Opening Day for the same team. He wasn’t as effective as Gallen early.

The Diamondbacks put runners on in two of the first three innings. A pickoff and a line drive double play helped Yamamoto escape.

But in the fourth inning after a leadoff single by Corbin Carroll, Yamamoto let an 0-and-2 fastball to Geraldo Perdomo get entirely too much of the plate. Perdomo sent it into the seats down the right-field line for a 2-0 Diamondbacks lead.

Pages’ postseason experience was a lot different than Yamamoto’s historic effort.

The center fielder was 4 for 50 in the postseason, prompting Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to bench him for Games 5, 6 and 7 of the World Series – setting up his Series-saving catch as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of Game 7.

After cruising through four innings on 51 pitches, Gallen looked vulnerable in the fifth, giving up back-to-back singles to Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez to start the inning. That brought up Pages, who fell behind 1-and-2 but golfed a curveball at the knees into the left field pavilion for his three-run home run.

Another single by Miguel Rojas and two walks loaded the bases with two outs for Smith against Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo. Smith squibbed a soft ground ball up the first-base line that Carlos Santana smothered beyond the bag. His flip to Morillo covering was too late and a run scored for the Dodgers.

Yamamoto re-engaged beast mode after the Perdomo home run, retiring the next nine Diamondbacks in order (including four of his six strikeouts) before handing the lead over to the Dodgers’ bullpen.

The Dodgers broke it open with another four-run inning in the seventh featuring Kyle Tucker’s first hit as a Dodger (an RBI double), an RBI single from Mookie Betts and a two-run home run by Will Smith.

Blake Treinen, Will Klein and Tanner Scott combined to close it out, retiring nine of the final 10 Diamondbacks.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Dodgers begin title defense by beating Diamondbacks on Opening Day

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