LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andy Pages hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied past the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Thursday, opening the season with a victory in pursuit of their third consecutive World Series championship.
Three of the Dodgers' first four hits in the fifth off Zac Gallen came with two strikes. Max Muncy singled, Teoscar Hernández reached on an infield single to Gallen, Pages' homer traveled
400 feet and Miguel Rojas singled. Shohei Ohtani drew a walk to chase Gallen, who began the game with four shutout innings and a 2-0 lead.
Juan Morillo came on and got two quick outs. But he walked Freddie Freeman and gave up an infield single to Will Smith. First baseman Carlos Santana dived toward the foul line and stopped the ball before bobbling it, allowing Rojas to score from third and extend the Dodgers' lead to 4-2.
Pages made a sparkling defensive play in center leading off the seventh. He chased a fly ball from Geraldo Perdomo, diving and landing on his belly to make the catch.
The Dodgers tacked on four more runs in the seventh off reliever Taylor Clarke. Kyle Tucker got his first hit and first RBI in his debut. The $240 million right fielder doubled in Ohtani, who was hit by Clarke, and then scored on Mookie Betts' single. Smith had a two-run homer, making it 8-2.
Arizona led 2-0 on Perdomo's two-run homer off World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0) in the fourth. Corbin Carroll singled leading off and Perdomo followed with a two-strike shot.
Yamamoto allowed two runs and five hits in six innings while striking out six.
Gallen (0-1) gave up a leadoff single to Ohtani in the first and a one-out walk to Muncy in the second. The Dodgers didn’t have another runner until the fifth. Gallen allowed four runs and four hits in four innings, struck out two and walked two.
D-backs RHP Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.39 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Friday against Dodgers RHP Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 2.82).
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