Michael King Outduels Yamamoto, Andujar Home Run Leads Padres To 1-0 Win Over Dodgers

The first game of the season between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers lived up to the hype at Petco Park on Monday night. 

Michael King and Yoshinobu Yamamoto met in a loaded pitcher's duel, and both stars excelled. 

Miguel Andujar drove in the only run of the entire game on the second at-bat of the night for San Diego with a solo home run to left field. 

Other than that, no runs scored, and that also accounted for the only extra-base hit of the night. 

It was the seventh straight game with a hit for Andujar, and with the way he is swinging the bat, it will be hard for Craig Stammen to bench him. 

Yamamoto is now 3-4, although he finished with just three hits, one run and eight strikeouts in seven innings for the Dodgers. 

For San Diego, King dominated again, although this was his best outing of the season. King threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits, all singles, and striking out nine to move to 4-2 and drop his ERA to 2.31. 

The win also marked San Diego's first 1-0 win over LA since 2008. 

Jason Adam threw a scoreless inning, but things got interesting when Hyeseong Kim walked and Shohei Ohtani singled. 

In the ninth inning, it was Mason Miller time, but the superstar closer scared everybody in San Diego by walking the first two batters he faced. 

Miller then got Will Smith to fly out, Max Muncy to strike out, and finished the game with Andy Pages hitting into a fielder's choice. 

Another major storyline for the Padres was catcher Rodolfo Durán. The 28-year-old rookie looked like a seasoned veteran, and although he now has a .071 average at the plate, he made a handful of key plays on defense that kept San Diego alive. 

Duran threw out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani trying to steal, was a perfect 3-for-3 on ABS challenges, and just looked like an everyday catcher behind the plate. 

While Duran's bat hasn't been there yet, Freddy Fermin's hasn't, either. Fermin is hitting just .160, and he has struggled with challenges and other areas behind the plate. 

The Padres have now taken over first place in the National League West, somehow, and will try and keep things going on Tuesday. 

Griffin Canning (0-2, 10.64 ERA) is on the mound for San Diego after a disastrous six-run outing against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Emmet Sheehan (3-1, 4.54 ERA) will pitch for the Dodgers on Tuesday night.