By Rocky Swift
TOKYO (Reuters) – The Dodgers were a long way from Los Angeles on Tuesday but with Shohei Ohtani and two more Japanese stars they were the home team for Tokyo fans in a historic season-opening 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
Ohtani had two hits and scored twice, with starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto getting the win for five innings work.
The five Japanese players in total with the two clubs marked the highest representation for the country in the six times Major League Baseball has held season-openers in Japan.
The starting pitcher showdown between countrymen Yamamoto and Shoto Imanaga for the Cubs was another day-one first.
“I just think it’s great for the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the pitching match-up. “I think Japanese baseball with American Major League Baseball, this is as good as it gets.”
“I’m just very grateful that we could be a part of this moment in time and making history,” he added.
The Cubs struck first with a run-scoring double from catcher Miguel Amaya in the third inning. But a Cubs pitching change in the fifth backfired, as right-hander Ben Brown gave up a walk and hits to Ohtani, second baseman Tommy Edman, and catcher Will Smith, putting the Dodgers up 3-1.
The Dodgers added insurance in the ninth when Ohtani got on base with a stand-up double and later scored off a single from right fielder Teoscar Hernandez.
FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE
It was a festive atmosphere at the Tokyo Dome, with thousands of fans taking selfies and enduring lengthy queues to buy merchandise.
By far the most popular name on the back of fans’ jerseys was Ohtani, who snagged his third Most Valuable Player award and his first World Series last year after joining the Dodgers.
In the off season, the star-laden Dodgers picked up Japanese fireballer Roki Sasaki, the No. 1 prospect for 2025. Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki rounded out the Japanese players on the teams’ rosters.
The Tokyo Dome was filled to its 42,000 capacity after tickets for the season-opener games sold out in about an hour last month. Tickets were listed for as much as 2.5 million yen ($16,873) on secondary market site StubHub last week.
Austin Olson, a Dodgers fan from Chicago, made a special trip to Tokyo for the game after he was able to snag his $75 ticket at face value when they became available online.
“I just got lucky when they went on sale,” said Olson. “I had like three tabs open and my dad, my sister, and my mom all working on it too.”
Amy Heidt married a die-hard Dodgers fan last year, and the couple turned their trip to Japan to see the team into a delayed honeymoon.
“It’s really blowing my mind to see all of the Dodgers merchandise here halfway across the world,” said Heidt, a writer from Los Angeles. “It’s really lovely to see the connection between cultures in this way.”
The MLB teams played exhibition games on Saturday and Sunday against the Yomiuri Giants and Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese pro league. The Japanese teams came out on top except for a Saturday match where a two-run homer from Ohtani powered the Dodgers to victory over the Giants.
The Dodgers and Cubs meet again in the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday before the teams return to the United States for another week of spring training games.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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