There were big smiles and a lot of celebrations before the players prepared for the Los Angeles Dodgers' second home game. The Boys in Blue capped off their first win at home on Thursday night and celebrated Friday by receiving their World Series championship rings in front of the jam-packed crowd at Dodgers Stadium.
The first couple of innings on Thursday were dangerous for the Dodgers, and the same thing happened on Friday when Yoshinobu Yamamoto stepped up to the mound and dealt with two immediate runs from the Tigers to give them the first lead of the night. Despite that, Yamamoto turned things around for himself and prevented the score from becoming a blowout game for the offense.
Jack Flaherty, the former Dodgers pitcher who helped lead the team to their championship year, returned to Detroit this past offseason and was determined to show his former team how good he was going against the kings of the mountain. Even though Flaherty grew up in Los Angeles, the Boys in Blue would not take it easy on him. That's when Freddie Freeman would tie up the game by earning himself his first home run of the 2025 season in the bottom of the sixth inning.
It would not be opening day weekend without a bunch of back-and-forth action from the offense to keep everyone on the edge of their seat. Both starting pitchers would get taken out of the game, and that would lead the Dodgers and Tigers into a battle of who could break the tie first, which at a point in the game looked as if Detroit was about to walk away from the night with a massive upset against the defending champions.
Many expected the bottom of the eighth inning to be the dagger for the Dodgers after Mookie Betts called his shot and nuked a huge home run into the crowd, plus won the challenge from Detroit, who believed fan interference played a part in the ball going over. Despite this happening, the Tigers still found a way to tie the game and send Dodgers Stadium into extra innings for the first time in the 2025 season.
Who do you call when you need someone to finish the job? The man whose full name is the acronym for the MLB. At the end of a long game, it would be Betts who had the game tied five-a-piece with Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith on base before he crushed another one deep into left field to send the roaring fans home with a big smile on their faces.
There are quite a lot of pros to look at. For example, when the Dodgers were down a couple of players, the name that stepped up in the postseason and tonight's game was Tommy Edman, a huge piece that the Dodgers have been successful with. Another pro is the four-headed dragon that consists of Betts, Freeman, Ohtani, and Teoscar Hernandez. The intimidation is on another level after the World Series, and the Dodgers will be just fine as long as no one becomes complacent in their roles.
The cons that the Dodgers need to face is that their bullpen needs to work on not allowing so many runners on base.
In both games against Detroit, both starting and relief pitchers for the Boys in Blue allowed the Tigers to load up the bases on multiple occasions. While the Dodgers should be very happy that no one knocked a grand slam into the crowd, there is no telling what a team like the Mets, Padres, Braves, Orioles, or another top contender could do if they take advantage of the nerves of a pitcher who isn't feeling himself out on the mound.
The Dodgers have one more game against Detroit left on Saturday. After that, they'll be dealing with the Braves and Phillies in their next two series matchups before they travel to the White House for a visit with the President before their three-game contest against the Washington Nationals.