LOS ANGELES _ The Los Angeles Dodgers arrived at Chavez Ravine for opening day understanding that their goal of a championship, already challenging in a vacuum, is a higher summit to climb coming off two World Series disappointments. But they assert they are talented and deep enough to run the marathon again and, for once, to finish on top. For weeks, they have maneuvered with a quiet confidence in preparation for the slog.
On Thursday, they offered a glimpse of their potential.
The Dodgers' pursuit of a seventh straight NL West title, third consecutive pennant, and first championship in over three decades began with a booming 12-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
The offense produced with two outs in the first inning to ignite the rout and slugged eight home runs in the next six innings to finish it off. Joc Pederson pounded two home runs and a double. Enrique Hernandez also hit two homers, Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke was chased after 32/3 innings. The eight home runs tied a franchise record set in May 2002. No team has ever hit more on opening day.
The blitz came in support of Hyun-Jin Ryu, who didn't need much of it. The left-hander limited the Diamondbacks to one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter.
Standard opening day activity began the day. A.J. Pollock, going against his former club in his first game as a Dodger, was christened as an Angeleno before the game. Traffic to the stadium Thursday morning, he said, was brutal.
Alex Verdugo, on an opening day roster for the first time, took a photo of his jersey at his locker before putting it on. He chose No. 27, previously Matt Kemp's number. Ross Stripling's fantasy football trophy, which he shares with Clayton Kershaw after they finally dethroned former general manager Farhan Zaidi and ended his dynasty, was placed atop his locker.
The typical extravagant opening day ceremonies followed. But there were differences. Kershaw wasn't in the bullpen warming up to pitch when he was announced during introductions. Instead, he jogged out from the dugout when his name was called to thunderous applause, though the next roar, for Walker Buehler, beat it by a few decibels. Kershaw's streak of opening day starts for the Dodgers officially ended at eight moments later.
And Don Newcombe, one of the Dodgers' many aces from yesteryear, wasn't sitting at his usual seat by the Dodger dugout. The 1949 National League rookie of the year and 1956 National League MVP and Cy Young award winner died last month and was celebrated before the teams took the field. The Dodgers will wear commemorative patches on their jerseys this season in his honor.
Ryu was the first Dodgers left-hander besides Kershaw to get the opening day assignment since Fernando Valenzuela. He was the second Korean-born hurler to start on opening day for any major league team, joining Chan Ho Park. And he was the Dodgers' fourth choice for the nod, selected after Rich Hill, who was scheduled to get the start after Kershaw and Buehler were deemed unavailable, sprained his left knee late in spring training.
The Diamondbacks, fielding a lineup that lost Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt over the offseason, floundered against Ryu. Arizona mustered just an infield hit through four innings. Nick Ahmed's double with two outs in the fifth inning was their second ball out of the infield. Adam Jones supplied their first run with a solo homer in the sixth.
Greinke's first taste of 2019 didn't progress as smoothly. The former Dodger, welcomed with throaty boos before the game, needed 31 pitches to escape the first inning. Pederson led off with a double. Corey Seager walked before the Dodgers did something they failed to so often as boom-or-bust practitioners last season: generate a couple of productive outs. Justin Turner and Max Muncy recorded back-to-back groundouts to push Pederson home from second base and give the Dodgers a lead.
The Dodger offense's assault on their 2018 weaknesses continued in the second inning. After Austin Barnes singled and moved to second on Ryu's sacrifice bunt, Pederson swatted a first-pitch curveball over the wall in center field for a two-out, two-run home run. Last season, the Dodgers were tied for last with the 47-win Baltimore Orioles in batting average with runners in scoring position and two outs.
Los Angeles continued pounding Greinke in the fourth inning the old-fashioned way with back-to-back blasts from Hernandez and Barnes. Two batters later, Seager crushed an 88 mph fastball into the right-field bleachers. The missile ended Greinke's day. He was booed off the mound. He has allowed 16 home runs in 34 innings at Dodger Stadium since he left the Dodgers to sign with Arizona for $206.5 million before the 2016 season.
