Was it AI? A magic trick? No, literally the toughest breakup imaginable for the San Diego Padres.
A ground ball by the Dodgers' Gavin Lux disappeared into first baseman Jake Cronenworth's glove… and came out the other way, sliding into right field as Teoscar Hernandez scored the go-ahead run.
Instead, a potential inning-ending double play turned into an error, the pivotal at-bat in a four-run eighth inning that marked the Dodgers' 5-2 victory in the regular-season opener. at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul.
Cronenworth's glove tore and the net came unfathomably loose. He stared at him, blinked, shook his head, trying to comprehend the betrayal. Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani followed with RBI singles and that was it.
“It sucks,” Cronenworth said. “I do not know what else to say”.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stated the obvious: “It was a lucky break for us. You have to accept them when you have them.”
Figuratively speaking, players have a hole in their glove quite often during spring training, and this game was more like the Cactus League than the National League.
The Padres used eight pitchers and issued nine walks and committed four shot clock violations.
The Dodgers were also sloppy. They went 0 for 14 with runners on base until the RBI singles in the eighth inning. Starter Tyler Glasnow hit numerous curveballs and bunted a defensive play. Ohtani couldn't make it to second base as he returned to first on Freddie Freeman's deep fly ball.
Plate umpire Lance Barksdale wasn't exactly in shape midseason, either. His strike zone was erratic and in the first inning he was guilty of umpire interference when Padres catcher Luis Campusano elbowed him in the mask while trying to throw out Betts by stealing second.
“It's Opening Day, obviously we're getting back into the flow of things,” said Dodgers closer Evan Phillips, who retired the Padres in order in the ninth for the save.
The teams will play again on Thursday at 3 a.m. PT before returning to home exhibition action. Opening day for the other 28 MLB teams is March 28.
