Will Smith had three hits and drove in four runs, Julio Urias went six innings in his first Opening Day start and the Los Angeles Dodgers earned an 8-2 victory against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Rookie James Outman hit a home run while J.D. Martinez and David Peralta each had RBI singles in their Dodgers debuts. Urias (1-0) gave single runs in each of the first two innings but settled down to yield four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno each drove in a run for the Diamondbacks, while Zac Gallen (0-1) gave up five runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings with three walks and seven strikeouts. Gallen entered with a 2.30 career ERA against the Dodgers in 54 2/3 innings.
The Diamondbacks got off to a fast start when Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch from Urias as the second batter of the game, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and Walker hit an RBI single.
Arizona made it 2-0 in the second inning when Moreno’s sacrifice fly scored Nick Ahmed, who had doubled. It was all Dodgers from there.
Los Angeles got even in the third with a walk to Outman, a double from Miguel Rojas and a two-out, two-run single from Smith. The Dodgers received RBI singles from Smith, Martinez and Peralta in the fifth for a 5-2 lead.
Outman, in his first career Opening Day game, belted a two-run home run to left field in the sixth for a 7-2 lead. It was the second home run of his career. Smith brought home the final Dodgers run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Relievers Phil Bickford, Shelby Miller and Yency Almonte closed out the victory, in the first regular-season game for the Dodgers since they earned a club-record 111 wins in 2022. Dodgers pitchers faced the minimum 21 batters over the final seven innings.
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy struck out five times, the most in a game in his career. Peralta, Outman, Rojas and Freddie Freeman each had two hits for Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
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