The Dodgers had been a great distance from Los Angeles on Tuesday however with Shohei Ohtani and two extra Japanese stars they had been the house staff for Tokyo followers in a historic MLB season-opening 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, with starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the win for 5 innings work. Japanese stars had been outstanding in Tuesday’s sport: there have been 5 in whole between the 2 golf equipment, and Shoto Imanaga began for the Cubs as he confronted off in opposition to his compatriot Yamamoto.
“I simply suppose it’s nice for the sport,” Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned of the pitching match-up. “I feel Japanese baseball with American Main League Baseball, that is nearly as good because it will get. I’m simply very grateful that we may very well be part of this second in time and making historical past,” he added.
The Cubs struck first with a run-scoring double from catcher Miguel Amaya within the third inning. However a Cubs pitching change within the fifth backfired, as right-hander Ben Brown gave up a stroll and hits to Ohtani, second baseman Tommy Edman, and catcher Will Smith, placing the Dodgers up 3-1.
The Dodgers added insurance coverage within the ninth when Ohtani acquired on base with a stand-up double and later scored off a single from proper fielder Teoscar Hernández.
It was a festive ambiance on the Tokyo Dome, with 1000’s of followers taking selfies and enduring prolonged queues to purchase merchandise. By far the most well-liked title on the again of followers’ jerseys was Ohtani, who snagged his third Most Precious Participant award and his first World Collection final yr after becoming a member of the Dodgers.
Within the offseason, the star-laden Dodgers picked up Japanese fireballer Roki Sasaki, the No 1 prospect for 2025. Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki rounded out the Japanese gamers on the groups’ rosters.
The Tokyo Dome was crammed to its 42,000 capability after tickets for the season-opener video games bought out in about an hour final month. Tickets had been listed for as a lot as 2.5m yen ($16,873) on resale websites.
The MLB groups performed exhibition video games on Saturday and Sunday in opposition to the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese professional league. The Japanese groups got here out on high apart from a Saturday match the place a two-run homer from Ohtani powered the Dodgers to victory over the Giants.
The Dodgers and Cubs meet once more within the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday earlier than the groups return to america for one more week of spring coaching video games. The remainder of the MLB groups will play their opening regular-season video games subsequent week.
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