Already with three victories this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be out for more success Friday night against the visiting Detroit Tigers as they start their way toward National League history.
The Dodgers are aiming for their 15th consecutive winning season in 2025 in an accomplishment that would tie the National League record set by the Pittsburgh Pirates (1913), St. Louis Cardinals (1953, 2022) and Atlanta Braves (2005).
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0, 1.80 ERA) will make his second start of the season after he was solid in his season debut last week at Japan against the Chicago Cubs.
In the 2025 MLB opener during the Tokyo Series, Yamamoto gave up one run on three hits over five innings with four strikeouts and a walk. Back in L.A., he is trying to improve on his debut MLB season in 2024, when he went 7-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts.
Yamamoto will face the Tigers for the first time.
Yamamoto struggled in his Dodgers debut last year but still had a strong season, even while working through a shoulder injury. His solid start in Japan shows he is ahead of the curve in 2025.
“What I learned about Yoshinobu was he’s very resilient,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think coming back after that (opening) start (last season) and pitching the way he did, pitching through the postseason the way he did, I just think these Japanese superstars, they’re built differently.”
The NL leaders in home runs last season, Los Angeles had three on Thursday — from Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman. All three players joined the club last season.
The Dodgers will face a familiar pitcher on Friday when right-hander Jack Flaherty (13-7, 3.17 ERA last season) takes the mound for the Tigers. Detroit sent Flaherty to Los Angeles at the trade deadline last year, and he was a key contributor on the way to the Dodgers’ World Series title.
Flaherty went 6-2 with a 3.58 ERA down the stretch for Los Angeles, then started in three of the team’s five playoff victories. He was not offered a contract to return to the Dodgers before the Tigers brought him back.
“It will be a different situation from the last time I was there,” Flaherty said in anticipation of his first start of the season. “It will be fun to compete against these guys. It’s the biggest thing when you compete against guys who are really good.
“It’s weird to end it there and start (2025) there. Everything is going to go on opening weekend.”
Flaherty, a Los Angeles-area native, has seven career starts against the Dodgers, going 1-2 with a 2.75 ERA, including 57 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.
The Tigers’ Spencer Torkelson had a strong season opener Thursday with a home run, four walks and two runs. Detroit had two runners aboard with one out in the ninth inning but couldn’t score the tying or go-ahead run.
After he signed with Detroit on Monday, Manuel Margot batted fifth in the season opener and had two hits while driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. Outfield options Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Perez are out with injuries.
Dodgers utility man Enrique Hernandez missed Thursday’s game — and a likely start against a left-hander — because of an illness.
–Field Level Media
