The Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off their World Series title defence with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday to begin the 2025 MLB season.
The season opener was a distinctly Japanese affair, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching for LA, while Shota Imanaga took the bump for the Cubs. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani collected two hits on the day, while scoring twice at a raucous Tokyo Dome.
The pitching duel marked the first time in MLB Opening Day history in which both hurlers hailed from Japan. Yamamoto fared well, lasting 5 innings, and surrendering only 1 earned run on 3 hits and 1 walk. Imanaga matched him pitch for pitch for 4 innings before giving way to reliever Ben Brown in the 5th inning.
And the Dodgers wasted little time in attacking the Cubs bullpen, roughing Brown up for 2 earned runs, on 4 hits, and 3 walks in 2.2IP. The 6’6″ righty managed to escape a few jams courtesy of 5 strikeouts, otherwise the damage could have been much worse.
With 3 runs crossing the plate in the top of the 5th, LA was able to put it into cruise control for the remainder of the contest before scoring a final insurance run in the 9th inning. Between the 3rd and 8th inning, the Dodgers retired 16 batters in a row as Chicago’s offence struggled to get it out of first gear on Tuesday.
The star studded Dodgers lineup wasn’t at full strength for the season opener as first baseman Freddie Freeman was a late scratch due to rib discomfort, while SS Mookie Betts will miss both Tokyo Series games due to an illness.
Nevertheless, the fans were treated to solid Opening Day matchup, filled with homegrown talent on both sides of the field. They’ll have plenty to cheer about on Wednesday as well, as highly touted rookie Roki Sasaki will make his MLB debut for the second game of the series.
Game 2 kicks off at 6:10am ET in North America, as the Cubs look to avoid coming back stateside in an 0-2 hole to start their 2025 campaign.
Photo: Haha169. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.