Shohei Ohtani had two hits and two runs, and Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched five innings to win a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the opening game of the Tokyo Series on Tuesday.
Otani had a single and scored on a slow error as part of five innings of three runs. He then ripped a double to lead the ninth time before crossing the plate on the left field from Tescor Hernandez’s single.
Tommy Edman and Will Smith each won RBI singles in five innings for the reigning champion Dodgers, who benefited from eight walks in the season-opening game.
Yamamoto (1-0) settled down after an uneven start by allowing 3 hits on four strikeouts and one run. He retired as the last nine batters he faced.
Anthony Banda, Ben Casparius and Blake Trainen combined to attack four batters without giving up hits in three scoreless innings. Tanner Scott retired in sequential order in nine innings to secure a save.
Chicago’s Miguel Amaya opened the score by ripping an RBI double with two outs in two innings.
Suzuki, who was 4-4, was lining up representing a united run with two outs in the eighth innings.
Shudaimanaga, a native of Japan, issued a career-high four walks to drive pitch counting, leading to the latter exit after four scoreless innings. Ben Brown (0-1) came in with peace of mind and soon came into trouble.
Andy Page went for one walk and went on to Otani’s singles 3 base, where Edman’s line drive single landed on a shallow left field before scoring to build a 1-1 tie.
Otani was forced to make a mistake by Chicago’s second baseman John Berty after Edman slid into two bases to prevent double play. Hernandez came in second on the slow and scored on Smith’s single two-left field.
Brown took the loss after allowing three runs (two hits) with three walks and five strikeouts.
Chicago jumped early to Yamamoto by scratching for the first run of the season.
Dansby Swanson slapped one single in two innings, reaching second on a groundout by Pete Crow-Armstrong, scoring on the field in the middle right from Amaya’s double.
– Field-level media
