For all the talk about the Dodgers' formidable, stacked, dominating lineup: today's Opening Day win was a squeaker that showed a lot of vulnerabilities in the armor.
Blake Snell only lasted five innings and earned the win despite leaving the mound with a 2-1 lead through five frames (Teoscar Hernandez' three-run HR in the bottom of the fifth rescued Snell from the loss column, putting the Dodgers ahead 4-2). Snell struggled his third time through the order--which we've obviously seen before--and needed 92 pitches to get through his five innings (Tigers starter Tarik Skubal needed only 80, and both starters ended up with 2 Ks each).
The Dodgers' bullpen was also kind of shaky, with Ben Casparius working out of a jam in the sixth; Alex Vesia and Tanner Scott each yielding a run in their innings of work; and closer Blake Treinen needing 23 pitches to sneak his way out of the ninth inning by getting Colt Keith to foul out to Freddie Freeman for the final out.
Hernandez' shot was the big bopper, bookended by Tommy Edman's second-inning solo shot and Shohei Ohtani's homer in the seventh. But Freddie Freeman was 0-for-4 and Max Muncy was 0-for-3 with 2 Ks (he is batting .100 on the year). And even with the three homers, we just eked out the one-run victory over the Tigers, who aren't a bad team, but aren't stacked like the Dodgers.
But a win is a win, I guess. Credit to my uncle for taking this photo and for staying the whole game, obviously. He'll probably be in Dodger Stadium traffic through midnight.
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