Blake Snell earned a victory in his Los Angeles Dodgers debut, Teoscar Hernández delivered a decisive three-run home run, and Shohei Ohtani added a solo shot as the Dodgers held off the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in their home opener on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers entered the matchup as solid favorites, with most sportsbooks listing them at approximately -175 on the moneyline. The Tigers, seeking their first win of the season, were underdogs at around +150. The projected run total was set at 8.5, which was reached late in the game following a pair of late rallies.
Snell, making his first regular-season appearance since signing a five-year, $182 million contract during the offseason, allowed two runs on five hits across five innings. The left-hander struck out two and walked four, navigating through some early command issues. His outing was backed by a sellout crowd of 53,595 that celebrated the Dodgers’ return from their season-opening series in Tokyo and the presentation of the Commissioner’s Trophy, which was brought onto the field in a blue convertible driven by rapper Ice Cube.
Snell’s only runs allowed came in the fourth and fifth innings. A wild pitch in the fourth led to Spencer Torkelson scoring Detroit’s first run. In the fifth, Snell allowed back-to-back singles to Gleyber Torres and Riley Greene and then walked Torkelson to load the bases. Manuel Margot’s sacrifice fly gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Los Angeles quickly responded in the bottom of the fifth. Ohtani reached on a fielder’s choice with two outs, and Mookie Betts walked. Hernández then connected on the first pitch from Tigers starter Tarik Skubal and sent a three-run home run into the left-field stands, putting the Dodgers in front 4-2.
Ohtani extended the Dodgers’ lead in the seventh inning with a solo home run, his second of the season. He finished the night 1-for-4 with two runs scored, continuing his strong start to the year both at the plate and on the bases.
The Tigers narrowed the deficit in the top of the seventh when Torkelson homered off reliever Ryan Brasier. Kerry Carpenter added a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning off Tanner Scott, trimming Los Angeles’ lead to 5-4.
Blake Treinen was called upon to pitch the ninth inning. He allowed two baserunners but managed to retire Trey Sweeney and Colt Keith to secure his first save of the season and preserve the Dodgers’ unbeaten start.
Skubal, the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, took the loss and fell to 0-1. He allowed four runs on six hits over five innings, walking one and striking out two.
With the win, Los Angeles improved to 3-0 on the season, including two victories over the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo to open the year. The series continues on Friday as right-hander Jack Flaherty is scheduled to make his season debut for Detroit after returning to the organization in the offseason. The Dodgers will counter with right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who enters with a 1-0 record and a 1.80 earned run average.
