Yamamoto, Dodgers Show Complete Game in Opener With 3-Peat as Goal

The pitcher who won the final two games of the World Series last year helped the Dodgers strongarm their way to victory No. 1 on Opening Day in Los Angeles, showing why L.A. is the heavy favorite to pull off a three-peat this season.

World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto misplaced one fastball, but was otherwise sharp over six innings, and the loaded offense wore down the Arizona arms to post an 8–2 victory over the Diamondbacks on Thursday night that christened the newly renamed UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium.

All the strengths of this Dodgers squad were on display in the game: outstanding starting pitching, bullpen versatility, lineup depth, and offensive pop. L.A. even threw in a couple of dandy defensive plays in a game it was expected to win.

Yamamoto, who started Game 6 and worked out of the bullpen the next night to win Game 7 last autumn against the Toronto Blue Jays, didn’t get away with a poorly placed fastball on an 0–2 pitch as he surrendered a two-run home run to Geraldo Perdomo in the fourth inning. But the right-hander cut through the Arizona lineup on the same day the Dodgers paraded their back-to-back Series trophies around the park.

“As far as my stuff, I felt like I was able to hit my spots, for the most part, and I was going hard from the first inning,” Yamamoto said in his postgame media availability.

“I gave up the home run to open the scoring, but I was able to reset and go after the next batter, and I think my pitches got better after that. I’m not so sure about the pitch for the home run, but with other ones I gave up hits on, either the location was off, or the pitches were high—I just wasn’t able to throw those pitches well. I’ll work on making adjustments so that I’m better next time.”

A Dodgers Series three-peat has been a constant topic in the clubhouse and the media since L.A. brought up the notion after winning the World Series last year. But Yamamoto said the path to that goal requires a group effort and more than just one victory.

“It’s great to win the opener, that’s fine, but at the same time, the season is long, and we need to be connected as a team and push ahead,” he said.

No. 8 batter Andy Pages, who struggled at the plate in the postseason, cracked a three-run home run in the fifth frame to get the Dodgers on the board and in the lead.

Max Muncy singled to right and Teoscar Hernandez beat out a dribbler toward third for an infield single before Pages, who had 27 longballs in 2025, banged a curve over the fence in left-center field for a 3–2 Dodgers lead.

The Dodgers rallied for another run in the inning for a 4–2 advantage, and then the stars of the L.A. lineup came out to play in the seventh. Shohei Ohtani was plunked to open the inning, and offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker plated the speedy two-way superstar with a double to the gap in right-center.

Mookie Betts stroked an RBI single to center before Will Smith smacked his first longball of the season for an 8–2 lead.

L.A. Manager Dave Roberts went to his bullpen in the seventh, and the trio of Blake Treinen, World Series Game 3 pitching hero Will Klein, and Tanner Scott combined to allow just one hit the rest of the way to close things out.

Roberts said he was impressed with his club’s entire effort.

“It’s kind of how we structured this lineup, and it played out like that,” Roberts said postgame.

“To see Yamamoto take that punch with the homer and rebound, get through six innings with not his best stuff—pretty impressive.

“That last inning, that was still elite stuff. I was just mindful of his pitch count, but I don’t know if it was one particular thing that he went to more. But again, he and Will were in sync tonight.”

But even Roberts couldn’t hide his pride for the guys with the bats, despite the fact that it took them a while to get going.

“When you face a lineup like ours, it certainly has to be taxing,” Roberts said.

“And when you feel you have to be perfect, and just to have to continue to keep executing and executing—it’s tough mentally [and] physically. As long as we can be disciplined like we were tonight, we should have opportunities to put up big numbers.”