Dodgers 8, D-backs 2: Andy Pages flips the game to help Dodgers cruise to Opening Day win

Chad Moriyama 03/26/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Opening Day for the Dodgers this year means the start of a quest of the rare three-peat, and it also means a lot of great hype videos.

Additionally, there was a ton of pre-game stuff to get through, from special intros to unveilings to Will Ferrell … the woes of being the champs, lol.

As for the actual game, the Dodgers got behind early and weren’t hitting into the middle innings, but one Andy Pages swing gave the Dodgers a lead in a flash. The lineup didn’t look back from there, continuing to pile on as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the bullpen continued to post zeros in an 8-2 win over the Diamondbacks for Opening Day.

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Coming off his heroics to end last season, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the Opening Day nod for the Dodgers today. He started by facing the minimum in the 1st thanks to picking off a single.

He then got a clean 2nd, and escaped a jam in the 3rd. A lead-off double and a one-out infield single put a pair on, but Freddie Freeman speared a soft liner for a double play to end the threat.

That might’ve been bigger than it seemed, as the 4th began with a Corbin Carroll single, and then Yamamoto threw a 0-2 fastball to Geraldo Perdomo for whatever reason. Well, he missed location and it got bombed to right for a 2-0 D-backs lead.

Weirdly enough, Yamamoto settled down after that, retiring the last nine batters he faced to get through six. He basically made one mistake and ended up leaving with the lead: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 95 Pitches.

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Man, it sure didn’t SEEM like Yamamoto would be in line for the win early on, as the Dodgers struggled to get much going.

Shohei Ohtani led the game off against Zac Gallen with a single, but after that he gave up just a walk to Max Muncy and was through four innings.

Thankfully, the 5th happened. Max Muncy started the rally with a single, Teoscar Hernandez then reached on a swinging bunt infield single, and then Andy Pages crushed a breaking ball to left for a three-run homer at a 3-2 Dodgers lead.

After a single to Miguel Rojas and a walk to Shohei Ohtani, Gallen’s day was over just like that.

The pen got him on the verge of escaping without further damage with a pair of outs, but a walk Freddie Freeman loaded things up, and Will Smith then annihilated this ball for a single to make it 4-2.

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I’m not sure why, but even when it was a two-run lead, Blake Treinen started the 7th. Thankfully, Pages was showing out and made a great sliding catch to start his inning.

That helped him get through a scoreless frame with just a single allowed.

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The bats then put distance between them and the D-backs in their half of the 7th, as Shohei Ohtani got hit by a pitch and Kyle Tucker followed with his first hit as a Dodger, a double in the gap for a run. Mookie Betts followed that with a single to make it a pair.

Later, Will Smith crushed a two-run shot to make it a four-run rally and an 8-2 lead.

That would eventually be the final because Will Klein entered in the 8th and took just nine pitches to slam the door as he looked sharper than ever.

Then Tanner Scott slammed the door in a Yamamoto start.

THEY'RE GOING UNDEFEATED

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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) March 26, 2026 at 5:10 PM

It’s happening.

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The same two teams and the same place tomorrow, but at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET on MLB Network. It’ll be Emmet Sheehan in something that’s probably more like his last Spring Training start, and he’ll be up against Ryne Nelson.

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