Dustin May's stellar performance propels Dodgers to series opener win over Rockies

LOS ANGELES -- 709 days later, Dustin May finally recorded a win on an MLB mound as his dominant start pushed the Dodgers ahead of the Colorado Rockies 5-3 to take the series opener. Colorado hitters looked clueless against the wizardry May possessed on the mound as he went six strong innings, only allowing one earned run on three hits and striking out seven Rockies. 

The Dodgers began their scoring bid quickly in the bottom half of the first as a leadoff single by Shohei Ohtani set up Mookie Betts to crush an 85 mph changeup in the zone for his fourth home run of the season which quickly put Los Angeles ahead 2-0. 

'Sho-Time' Ohtani came through in the bottom half of the third with his fifth long ball, extending the Dodgers lead 3-0. 

The 1-2-3 hitters in the Dodgers lineup continued to perform well as Betts led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, followed by a ground out from Freddie Freeman that allowed Betts to advance to third. This set the stage for Will Smith to drive in Betts with an RBI single, adding another RBI to his stat line and pushing the lead further 4-0. Smith added the fifth and final run for Los Angeles with a sacrifice fly in the sixth that drove in Ohtani. 

Colorado started showing signs of life in the top half of the sixth as Dodgers alumni Kyle Farmer doubled in Nick Martini from first. Anthony Banda would replace May on the mound and get into some command trouble early as a Mickey Moniak single set up Hunter Goodman to slash a two-run home run, his third home run of the season, and inch the Rockies closer 5-3. 

Unfortunately for the Rockies, Kirby Yates would shut their offense down in the eighth, and closer Tanner Scott handled business in the ninth to secure the series-opening win for the Boys in Blue. May gets his first win of 2025, and the first three hitters in the lineup took command of the offense, going  9-17 with 5 RBI. The Dodgers look to secure the series with a win tomorrow on the iconic Jackie Robinson Day, in which we will see Landon Knack (1-0) take the mound for Los Angeles as he looks to have a bounceback performance.