Los Angeles Dodgers Open Spring Training With a Bang, Hang Snowman on San Diego Padres
Baseball is officially back, and it hasn't taken very long for the Los Angeles Dodgers to establish their dominance atop the league
The Dodgers and San Diego Padres went head-to-head for the first Spring Training game of 2024, opening up Cactus League play at Peoria Sports Complex on Thursday. Los Angeles was first to step up the plate, and they put San Diego starting pitcher Joe Musgrove through the ringer right off the bat.
Four Dodgers reached safely to open the afternoon. After newly-signed left fielder Teoscar Hernandez recorded a two-RBI ground-rule double, Musgrove got the hook.
Musgrove's replacement, Carter Loewen, struck out the first batter he saw before falling victim to Los Angeles' high-powered offense as well.
Third baseman Chris Owings followed Hernandez's lead, driving in two runs on a ground-rule double of his own. Right fielder Andy Pages tacked on another two RBI with a single to right, then first baseman Kevin Padlo blasted a two-run home run to left.
By the time Loewen got yanked, the Padres had only recorded one out. The Dodgers, on the other hand, had racked up eight runs.
Los Angeles was able to hang a snowman on San Diego without former MVPs Freddie Freeman or Shohei Ohtani. All-Stars Will Smith and Max Muncy did not start, either, nor did veteran outfielders Jason Heyward or Manuel Margot.
When the Padres got a chance to answer in the bottom of the first, the All-Star trio of Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth went down in order.
The Dodgers went on to beat the Padres 14-1.
FanGraphs is projecting Los Angeles to win 94.5 games in 2024 – the second most in baseball – following the club's $1.2 billion offseason. San Diego, meanwhile, is projected to win 81.3 games.
The Dodgers and Padres are scheduled to face off in the first regular season action of the year next month. The NL West foes will play each other in the Seoul Series, which gets underway on March 20 in Korea.
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Check out more Los Angeles Dodgers coverage at Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Inside the Dodgers.
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