The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres split the Major League Baseball (MLB) season opener at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, Korea.
The Dodgers came from behind to win the first game, 5-2, on 20 March in front of a full house of 15,952 spectators.
The Padres took a 2-1 lead into the eighth, but a four-run Los Angeles eighth at bat, highlighted by RBI singles by superstars Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, gave the Dodgers the win.
"The biggest thing is that we got that W and the way we got it," Ohtani said. "Coming back late in the game like that proves that we’re a really good team."
The Padres won a 33-hit slugfest lasting 3 hours and 42 minutes in front of another full house the following day, 15-11.
San Diego got to Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto with five runs on four hits in the top of the first and never needed to look back. Their offence combined 17 hits against seven Los Angeles pitchers. First baseman Kake Cronenworth went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, and designated hitter Manny Machado homered.
Mookie Betts led the Los Angeles lineup, going 4-for-5 with a home run and six RBIs. The Dodgers combined 16 hits against six San Diego pitchers. Reliever Michael King pitched 3.1 innings for the win.
2011 Baseball World Cup winner Xander Bogaerts became one of three MLB players recording a hit in five different countries in regular season games. He competed in the US and Canada with the Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres, in England for the Boston Red Sox, in Mexico and Korea for the San Diego Padres. He is part of an exclusive club with Paul Goldschmidt and Edgardo Alfonzo.
The San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers will retake the field on Thursday, 28 March, when the MLB season will take off at full force. Both haven't elected a starting pitcher. The Padres will host the San Francisco Giants (starting pitcher Logan Webb), and the Dodgers will host the St Louis Cardinals (Miles Mikolas).
The World Series-winning Texas Rangers will hand the ball to Nathan Eovaldi when they open against the Chicago Cubs (Justin Steele) on home turf at Globe Life Field.
The rest of the programme includes:
Milwaukee Brewers (starting pitcher Freddy Peralta) @ New York Mets (Jose Quintana)
Los Angeles Angels (Patrick Sandoval) @ Baltimore Orioles (Corbin Burnes)
Atlanta Braves (Spencer Strider) @ Philadelphia Phillies (Zack Wheeler)
Washington Nationals (Eduardo Rodriguez) @ Cincinnati Reds (Shane McClanahan)
Toronto Blue Jays (José Berrios) @ Tampa Bay Rays (Zach Eflin)
Pittsburgh Pirates (Mitch Keller) @ Miami Marlins (Jesus Luzardo)
Minnesota Twins (Pablo Lopez) @ Kansas City Royals (Cole Ragans)
New York Yankees (Nestor Cortes) @ Houston Astros (Framber Valdez)
Detroit Tigers (Tarik Skubal) @ Chicago White Sox (Garrett Crochet)
Cleveland Guardians (Shane Bieber) @ Oakland Athletics (Alex Wood)
Colorado Rockies (Kyle Freeland) @ Arizona Diamondbacks (Zac Gallen)
Boston Red Sox (Bryan Bello) @ Seattle Mariners (Luis Castillo)
