Dodgers deliver emotion, history and lay down the hammer in home opener
It was dark, it was chilly, and the national anthem was interrupted by the flyover.
There were empty seats, rushed introductions that didn’t give the fans enough time to properly serenade Clayton Kershaw, and an initial feeling that this was just another weekday night.
Then the Dodgers showed up, and thousands of their neighbors roared, and their 60-year-old house shook, and suddenly it all made sense.
Welcome back. Welcome home.
Freddie Freeman is crowned homecoming king in Dodgers’ victory over Reds
Before the game, the loudest ovation belonged to the Dodgers’ longest-tenured player.
At the height of Thursday night’s home opener, however, a sold-out Dodger Stadium was chanting for the team’s newest star.
In his first regular-season home game since signing with the Dodgers last month, Freddie Freeman delivered the crushing blow in the team’s 9-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds, lacing a leadoff double in the eighth to spark the team’s six-run game-winning rally.
As Freeman pulled into second base, a crowd of 52,995 rose to its feet. Chanting along to the trumpeting beat of Dayvi’s “Baila Conmigo,” the fans shouted “Fred-die! Fred-die!” until the $162-million first baseman acknowledged them by tapping his chest and giving them a wave.
Dodgers win home opener, 9-3
With no save situation in place, Craig Kimbrel takes a seat in the Dodger bullpen and Evan Phillips comes in to pitch. He retired the side in order, and just like that the Dodgers are 4-2 this season.
Dodgers take 9-3 lead going into ninth inning
Gavin Lux stayed in the game at second, while Max Muncy moved to third. Blake Treinen now pitching for the Dodgers in the top of the eighth and retired the side in order.
In the bottom of the eighth, Freddie Freeman led off with a ground-rule double to left-center. Trea Turner singled to right, scoring Freeman and giving the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. After Max Muncy struck out, Will Smith homered to left-center. 7-3 Dodgers. The ball appeared to bounce off the center fielder’s glove and over the fence. Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger singled, putting runners on the corners. Bellinger stole second. Taylor scored on a wild pitch. Lux walked. Bellinger scored on Betts’ single. It’s 9-3. Freeman struck out as the Dodgers bat around in the inning. Trea Turner struck out swinging.
Score after eight: Dodgers 9, Reds 3
Reds tie it in seventh inning
The Reds tied it in the top of the seventh on a two-out homer off of David Price from Brandon Drury, who was only in the game because Johnathan India left the game because of a leg injury.
In the bottom of the inning, Will Smith popped to first, but Chris Taylor singled and Cody Bellinger walked. Gavin Lux came up to hit for Hanser Alberto, and the Reds countered by bringing left-hander Justin Wilson, who struck Lux and Mookie Betts out.
Score after seven: Dodgers 3, Reds 3
Reds close within 3-2 of Dodgers after six innings
The Reds made it a one-run game in the top of the sixth. After two quick outs, Tyler Stephenson walked. Aristides Aquino, who had struck out both times tonight, fell behind 1-2 before launching a home run to center. And that was it for Buehler. David Price came in and got the last out. Buehler went 5.2 innings, giving up two runs, five hits and three walks while striking out four. He made 98 pitches.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers went in order.
Both sides retired without a run in the fifth inning
After a busy first inning, this game has settled into hum-drumness, with both sides stranding a runner in the fifth inning.
Score after five: Dodgers 3, Reds 0
It’s Dodgers 3, Reds 0 after four innings
Just when I say it has been a bit of a struggle for him, Buehler struck out two of the three Reds in the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Max Muncy flied to center, Will Smith grounded into the shift, Chris Taylor flied to center.
Score after four: Dodgers 3, Reds 0
Dodgers 3, Reds 0 after three
Walker Buehler has pitched three scoreless innings, though it has been a bit of a struggle. He has given up three hits and walked two while striking out one.
In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers went in order.
It’s still 3-0 Dodgers after second inning
The Reds loaded the bases with two out in the top of the second, but Walker Buehler got Colin Moran to bounce to second to end the inning.
The Dodgers went down quietly in the bottom of the inning, wasting a leadoff single by Cody Bellinger.
Trea Turner extends hitting streak to 25 games
Trea Turner singled in the first inning Thursday, extending his hitting streak to 25 games, tied for the third longest in L.A. Dodger history. A look:
31 games, Willie Davis, 1969
30, Andre Ethier, 2011
25, Steve Sax, 1986
25, Paul Lo Duca, 2003
25, Willie Davis, 1971
25, Trea Turner, 2021-22
24, John Shelby, 1988
23, Brett Butler, 1991
Dodgers take quick 3-0 lead
Walker Buehler’s fastball was back at 96 mph in the top of the first, after topping out at 94 in Denver. So that’s a good sign. He retired the side on 11 pitches.
In the bottom of the first, Freddie Freeman singled, moved to third on Trea Turner’s single to right, then scored on Justin Turner’s single. Max Muncy then singled to right, scoring Trea Turner and putting runners on the corners. Trea Turner has a 25-game hitting streak. Will Smith singled under shortstop Kyle Farmer’s glove, scoring Justin Turner. Chris Taylor grounded into a double play.
Score after one: Dodgers 3, Reds 0
Photos: Dodgers fans flock to Chavez Ravine for 2022 home opener
Fighter jets fly over Northeast Los Angeles on the way to Dodger Stadium for a flyover before Thursday night’s home opener.
It’s time for Dodger Baseball!
After opening the 2022 season on the road in Denver and Minneapolis, the Dodgers returned home to play their first game of the season at Dodger Stadium among throngs of early-arriving (yes, you read that right) Dodgers fans.
Los Angeles Times photographers Myung J. Chung and Robert Gauthier were at Dodger Stadium capturing the unique spectacle that is Chavez Ravine on an early spring evening.
Freddie Freeman to have plenty of family in the house for home opener
In his first home game as a Dodger, Orange County native Freddie Freeman isn’t even sure of the exact number of family members planning to be in attendance.
“I just know there’s a full suite,” he said with a laugh before the game.
Freeman signed with the Dodgers last month on a six-year, $162-million contract, coming back to Southern California after spending the first 12 years of his career with the Atlanta Braves.
In the past, only his dad would usually make the cross-country trip out to Freeman’s home openers.
But now that he’s in Los Angeles, “this is gonna be a little bit different, since I’ve got a lot of family here,” he said. “It’s gonna be special having aunts, uncles, grandpa, dad, wife, kids, everyone coming. It’s gonna be exciting.”
Jack Harris talks about the Dodger offense
Times Dodgers reporter Jack Harris talks about the Dodger offense ahead of tonight’s home opener.
Taking a closer look at the Dodgers rotation
Times Dodgers reporter Jack Harris looks back at Clayton Kershaw’s perfect day and looks ahead at the rotation during the opening homestand against the Cincinnati Reds.
Clayton Kershaw feels bad you couldn’t see him pitch a perfect game
On the day after the Dodgers removed Clayton Kershaw six outs from a perfect game, Kershaw said he felt bad — not for himself, but for you.
“The only thing I feel bad for is, if I was a fan, I would want to see somebody finish the game,” Kershaw said Thursday. “So, from a fan’s perspective, I do feel bad for that. I wish I could have done it. But yesterday wasn’t the day.”
Kershaw and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts agreed that seven innings was enough for a pitcher whose injury kept him out of last season’s playoffs and delayed his winter throwing program. Kershaw threw 11 2/3 innings in the lockout-shortened Cactus League.
Things are looking up for Reds rookie Hunter Greene, just as he envisioned
ATLANTA — Hunter Greene was told not to look up, but he looked up anyway. Up at the third deck. Up toward the nearly sold-out crowd. Up to see what he envisioned since he was just another kid.
Greene hasn’t been just another kid most of his life. The spotlight has trailed him nearly half of his time on Earth. Every pitch studied, every game dissected, every move logged since his fastball first touched 100 mph at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks. Landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated, even in 2017, only electrified the hype machine in a sport craving excitement.
And at each stop, at each turn, Greene has oozed a cool confidence. Seemingly never fazed and always ready. So, yes, the 22-year-old pitcher looked up from the mound at Truist Park at 1:50 p.m. Sunday before making his major league debut for the Cincinnati Reds against the Atlanta Braves. He loved the view.
“I looked up right when I got out there,” Greene said. “I wanted to take it all in and enjoy it. I felt really comfortable out there.”
First person: Carl Erskine remembers Jackie Robinson as a man who ‘stood his ground’
Jackie Robinson made his major league debut 75 years ago Friday. He died 50 years ago, and few fans alive today can say they saw Robinson play.
Carl Erskine saw him play every day. Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, Erskine followed in 1948, and the two remained teammates until Robinson retired after the 1956 season. When the Dodgers moved west in 1958, Erskine was the starting — and winning — pitcher in the team’s first game in Los Angeles.
Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey had warned Robinson he would have to turn the other cheek at every turn if he were to succeed at breaking baseball’s color barrier and proving a Black man could endure in the major leagues. Robinson turned endurance into excellence, and ultimately into a place in the Hall of Fame.
Dodgers’ lineup for Thursday’s home opener
Here’s the lineup for the Dodgers’ 2022 home opener against the Cincinnati Reds:
Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw back in healthy form: Takeaways from Twins series
MINNEAPOLIS — There were no dissenters in the Dodgers clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, no one inside the team who voiced a second guess of their manager’s decision.
In his season debut, Clayton Kershaw pitched seven perfect innings before being removed before the start of the eighth.
And pretty much everyone — the left-hander included — understood why.
Said Kershaw: “I mean, I would have loved to have stayed [in the game]. But bigger things, man, bigger things.”
Catcher Austin Barnes: “I think it was the right call. … The most important thing is to keep him healthy and being there for this team.”
Third baseman Justin Turner: “Obviously, when you’re two innings away and [have] a chance for history, it’s tough on anyone in any situation. But collectively, we’re here to win a championship and he’s going to be a big part of that.”
Baseball reveres Jackie Robinson, but Robinson didn’t revere baseball. Here’s why
Dave Roberts, Reggie Smith and Fred Claire reveal how the Dodger legend has influenced their lives.
You have your best day ever on the job and I have mine.
Mine is the day Jackie Robinson came to town.
It was June 1972 and I was covering the Dodgers for The Times and Robinson had arrived to have his number retired along with those of Sandy Koufax and Roy Campanella in ceremonies at Dodger Stadium. These were the first numbers the Dodgers had retired, in Brooklyn or Los Angeles, which made it a big deal. So did the fact that Robinson had bothered to come.
While Koufax and Campanella always will be revered Dodgers alumni, Robinson had nothing to do with the team after he left baseball. Following the 1956 season, the Dodgers traded him to the Giants and he abruptly retired. That was the beginning of an estrangement from the Dodgers, and from baseball, that lasted the rest of his life.
Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw realizes bigger things are ahead
Clayton Kershaw was removed from the game after seven innings despite having not allowed a baserunner.
Perfect.
Dave Roberts pulled his pitcher even though he was two innings from achieving a baseball feat matched by only 23 pitchers in major league history.
Perfect.
In a 7-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Minneapolis’ frigid Target Field on Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers eschewed a moment of individual glory for an eventual opportunity at team greatness.
Seriously, is there anything more perfect?
Clayton Kershaw is pitch-perfect for seven innings, but is removed as Dodgers roll
MINNEAPOLIS — Clayton Kershaw gave a wide-eyed smile to Gavin Lux as he walked off the field.
He laughed while fist-bumping teammates in the dugout as he descended the stairs.
Then he found catcher Austin Barnes and wrapped him in a quick hug, the only time a dejected look ever crossed his face.
“Sorry,” Kershaw told his catcher, as a perfect day came to an imperfect end.
Barnes looked back at the future Hall of Famer, tapped his side and flashed a grin.
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
The Dodgers have 157 games left to play in the 2022 regular season. Here’s the TV channel and streaming option for each contest: