Ohtani Wedge Guitar… Dodgers Defeat San Diego and Win MLB Seoul Opening Game
Dodgers, fortunate to have a ground ball pass through the opponent's first baseman's mitt in the top of the 8th inning.
San Diego's Kim Ha-seong went 0-hit and 1 walk in 3 at-bats.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, a 'luxury team' with Shohei Ohtani, were recorded as the winners of the historic opening game of the Seoul Series.
The Dodgers came from behind to win 5-2 over the San Diego Padres in the opening game of the 2024 Major League Baseball (MLB) Seoul Series regular season held at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on the 20th.
This is the first time that an MLB regular season game was held in Korea.
As part of the world tour, the MLB Secretariat previously opened the season in Monterrey, Mexico in 1999, Tokyo, Japan in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2019, San Juan, Puerto Rico, U.S. territory in 2001, and Sydney, Australia in 2014.
This year, Gocheok Dome in Seoul was chosen as the venue for the 9th MLB regular season opening game held outside the United States.
The winner of the ‘Seoul Opening Game’ was the Dodgers. 파워볼게임
The Dodgers turned the game around in the 8th inning, when the game was tied 1-2, by scoring 4 runs thanks to a lucky error by the opponent and a timely hit by Ohtani.
San Diego starting shortstop Kim Ha-seong, who also served as an 'ambassador' for this Seoul Series, reached base once with a walk, but did not hit a hit.
Ha-Seong Kim’s performance on this day was 0 hits and 1 walk in 3 at-bats.
Ohtani played well with 2 hits, 1 RBI, and 1 stolen base in 5 at-bats.
‘Korean’s first big leaguer’ Park Chan-ho, currently a special advisor to San Diego, went up to the mound and threw out the first pitch, stimulating the nostalgia of Korean baseball fans.
Special Advisor Park Chan-ho had the word 'PADgers' engraved on his chest, which was half of 'PADRES' and 'Dodgers'.
After Park Chan-ho's first pitch, a 'play ball' was declared to announce the historic opening game of the Seoul Series.
In a game that started with the Dodgers batting first, first batter Mookie Betts reached base with a walk.
With a ball count of 3 balls and 1 strike, San Diego starting pitcher Yu Darubish committed one ball due to a 'pitch clock violation' and allowed a walk.
The Dodgers had a chance to reach first base with no outs, but failed to score first due to a follow-up hit, such as Shohei Ohtani's ground ball to shortstop.
In the top of the third inning, with two outs, Ohtani hit a large foul home run that almost touched the ceiling of the left outfield of Gocheok Dome, and then hit Darubish's 157 km/h sinker and hit a hit that flew toward right field at 181 km/h.
Ohtani, who signed a 10-year contract with the Dodgers worth $700 million ahead of this season, hit his first hit since moving against a Japanese pitcher at Gocheok Dome.
Ohtani immediately stole second base, reaching a total of 100 stolen bases in the U.S. and Japan (87 in the U.S., 13 in Japan).
Darubish, who allowed a hit and a stolen base to Ohtani, gave up consecutive walks to Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, putting the bases loaded with two outs, but he struck out Max Muncy and roared back.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, San Diego's attack scored the first score in the opening game of the Seoul Series.
After the first batter, Tyler Wade, got on base on a walk, he reached second base when Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow threw a wild pitch.
Wade advanced to third base on Jackson Merrill's fly ball to center field.
The next batter, Sander Boharz, hit Glasnow's 148 km/h slider with one out and runners on third base, hitting a timely hit with one RBI.
It was the first RBI in MLB this season and the first RBI in an MLB game played in Korea.
The Dodgers immediately tied the game in the top of the fourth inning.
Leadoff hitter Teoscar Hernández hit an infield grounder and sprinted, and San Diego third baseman Wade's throw missed the first baseman's mitt, so Hernández ran all the way to second base.
Hernández, who reached third base when James Outman grounded to first base, hit home with Jason Hayward's sacrifice fly to right field.
San Diego broke the balance again in the bottom of the fourth inning.
When Manny Machado got on base with a walk, Ha-Seong Kim also got a walk by picking out Glasnow's sinker and slider with a ball count of 2 balls and 2 strikes.
Urickson Profar's bunt to the pitcher's right led to an infield hit, giving San Diego a chance to load the bases with no outs.
Luis Campusano retired with a double play in front of the shortstop, but Machado hit home in the meantime, giving San Diego a 2-1 lead.
However, the Dodgers' batting team scored a large number of runs in the 8th inning, turning the game around.
The Dodgers tied the score at 2-2 with Enrique Hernández's sacrifice fly to left field with the bases loaded and no outs made with two walks and one hit.
Luck also followed.
With one out and runners on first and second base, Gavin Lux's ground ball went through San Diego first baseman Jake Cronenworth's mitt.
Meanwhile, Teosca Hernández, a runner on second base, hit home and succeeded in turning the score around 3-2.
The scorer decided that it was Cronenworth's mistake.
Opportunities followed with one out and runners on first and second base, and Betts hit a timely hit with an RBI single to left.
With one out and runners on first and second base, Ohtani targeted Adrian Morejon's 158 km/h sinker and hit a timely hit with an RBI to left-center, scoring the key point.
Otani's wife, Mamiko Tanaka, also clapped and laughed when her husband made a timely hit.
San Diego will seek revenge on the 21st with Joe Musgrove as the starter.
The Dodgers' starter for Game 2 of the Seoul Series is Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
