Andy Pages and Will Smith hit home runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to an 8-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. ignite historic offense. The Dodgers launched their quest for an unprecedented three-peat, something no National League team has ever done.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a simple goal for 2026. They want to win another World Series, their third in a row. It's a lofty goal, too, because no National League team has ever pulled off a three-peat.
No one. Ever.
But the Dodgers opened the season in style on Thursday night, scoring eight unanswered runs to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 at Dodger Stadium.
Here's the game story from Dodgers Roundtable writer Adrian Medina.
The Dodgers had 10 hits and hit two home runs. Center fielder Andy Pages hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to give Los Angeles the lead and catcher Will Smith homered in the seventh inning.
Smith, who hit a home run in the Dodgers' thrilling Game 7 World Series win over the Toronto Blue Jays, added a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He's just the fifth player in baseball history to hit a home run in Game 7 of the World Series and then follow it up with a dinger on Opening Day.
Yoshiobu Yamamoto started for the Dodgers, and pitched six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. He had six strikeouts and no walks. He allowed a two-run homer to Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo in the fourth inning, but that was it.
The two teams play again on Friday night at 10:10 p.m. ET. Emmet Sheehan will start for the Dodgers and Ryne Nelson gets the call for Arizona.
"We obviously enjoyed going back-to-back, but it's almost like it's old news,'' Los Angeles shortstop Mookie Betts told reporters after the game. "We're not really focused on that anymore.
"Now we're focused on Game 2. We do a really good job here of just taking it day by day. We know we have a big goal, but the only way to get there is just one step at a time."