Dodgers defeat Cardinals 7-1 in home opener

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani prepares to bat during the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, March 28, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES – Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman homered and Shohei Ohtani was 2-for-3 with a walk in his first game as a Dodger at Dodger Stadium in a 7-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in their home opener Thursday.

Tyler Glasnow (1-0) and Ryan Yarbrough limited the Cardinals to three hits, all by Paul Goldschmidt, including a fourth-inning homer, in front of a capacity crowd announced at 52,667.

The Dodgers quickly benefited from their lineup with three MVPs at the top.

Betts, the 2018 American League MVP when he played for the Boston Red Sox, walked on a full count.  Ohtani, the unanimous selection as AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 when he played for the Angels, doubled, but wandered too far off second base as Betts held at third and was tagged out.

Freeman, the 2020 National League MVP when he played for the Atlanta Braves, singled in Betts.

On his 29th birthday, Will Smith singled, advancing Freeman to third. Freeman scored on Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers announced on Wednesday they had agreed on a 10-year contract extension for $140 million through the 2033 season with Smith.

Betts led off the third with a homer, his second in the Dodgers’ three games in 2024. Ohtani walked on five pitches. Freeman hit a curve ball from Miles Mikolas 409 feet over the center field fence to increase the led to 5-0.

James Outman singled in Teoscar Hernández, who doubled, in the sixth. Muncy’s two-out single in the seventh drove in Betts, who walked and went to second when Freeman walked. Ohtani, Freeman and Outman each had two hits to lead the Dodgers’ 10-hit attack.

Glasnow, whom the Dodgers signed to a five-year contract extension for $136.5 million after they acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays in a four-player trade Dec. 16, allowed two hits and one run over six innings, striking out five and walking one.

Yarbrough allowed one hit over the final three innings with one strikeout for his third save in 86 relief appearances in a major league career that began in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Mikolas (0-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 1/2 innings with five walks and two strikeouts. Adrián Beltré, who played the first seven seasons of his 21-season MLB career with the Dodgers, threw the ceremonial first pitch, two months after being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Pregame ceremonies also included a flyover by a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County and three F-15s from the Fresno Air National Guard Base. Josh Groban sang the national anthem. (CNS)