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Shohei Ohtani‘s RBI single capped a four-run eighth-inning rally in his Dodgers debut as Los Angeles beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 in Wednesday’s season opener in Seoul, South Korea, as the game turned when a routine grounder went through the webbing of first baseman Jake Cronenworth.

Teoscar Hernandez scored the go-ahead run on an error that could be construed as an equipment malfunction. Gavin Lux‘s grounder off Adrian Morejon went through Cronenworth’s glove, and the ball eventually settled in right field as Hernandez scored from second base to give Los Angeles a 3-2 lead.

“It could have gone through innings before that. It just happened at that situation, and it sucks,” Cronenworth said. “I mean, I thought it was an easy double play, I caught it on the first bounce.”

Watching from the dugout, Padres manager Mike Shildt was thinking San Diego had gotten out of the inning.

“I felt pretty confident it was a 3-6-1,” he said. “But it goes through his webbing and the rest is history.”

Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani capped their two-hit performances with run-scoring singles in the eighth inning.

“That’s a tough error for Cro,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Fortunate break for us. You got to take them when you can get them.”

Ohtani went 2-for-5 in his first game since leaving the Los Angeles Angels for a record 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. A crowd of 15,952 was on hand to watch at the Gocheok Sky Dome for Major League Baseball’s first game in South Korea.

“Just a good night overall for Shohei,” Roberts said. “The bigger picture, it’s significant because you’ve got such a generational talent that is on your ballclub in a big market in Los Angeles. There’s a lot more eyeballs on the Dodgers and on Major League Baseball.”

Ohtani, the two-way star who is limited to batting after elbow surgery, had a mental error that caused the final out of the eighth inning. He was called out when he passed second base and then failed to retouch the bag while retreating on Freddie Freeman‘s flyout, causing an inning-ending double play.

Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single among his two hits for the Padres, who mustered just four singles against five Dodgers pitchers.

The Padres were nursing a 2-1 lead before Wandy Peralta walked Max Muncy to lead off the eighth inning and reliever Jhony Brito (0-1) loaded the bases after Hernandez singled to center and James Outman walked on four pitches. Muncy scored on a sacrifice fly by Enrique Hernandez to end Brito’s evening before Cronenworth’s glove trouble changed the complexion of the game.

San Diego opened the scoring in the third inning after Tyler Wade came home on Bogaerts’ single to center against a drawn-in infield.

Los Angeles answered in the fourth. Hernandez advanced to second base following a throwing error by third baseman Wade. Hernandez moved to third on a groundout and scampered home on Jason Heyward‘s sacrifice fly to deep right field.

Machado walked on four pitches to lead off the fourth inning and advanced to second after Tyler Glasnow walked Ha-Seong Kim. A well-placed bunt by Jurickson Profar loaded the bases before Machado scored on a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Luis Campusano.

Glasnow allowed two runs on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings. The Dodgers acquired Glasnow in a Dec. 16 trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and signed him to a five-year, $136.5 million contract extension.

“The whole day was kind of a grind,” Glasnow said. “Loud — cool atmosphere.”

Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win after throwing a one-hit seventh. Evan Phillips pitched a perfect ninth for the save, finishing a four-hitter that gave the Dodgers their sixth straight win over the Padres in an opener.

Padres pitchers walked nine and hit a batter, and the Dodgers had seven hits, none for extra bases. In the first game since MLB shortened the pitch clock with runners on base by two seconds to 18, Padres pitchers were called for four violations, including two by Peralta and one each by Yu Darvish and Yuki Matsui.

Using the glove from his first major league appearance, former Dodgers and Padres pitcher Chan Ho Park threw the ceremonial first pitch.

Before the game, Park, who works as an adviser with San Diego, expressed pride about how his achievements and those of his former Japanese teammate, Hideo Nomo, inspired younger generations of Asian players to try to reach the majors. Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995.

“When I look at all these Asian players today, I feel that the tree planted by Hideo Nomo has grown strong and the tree planted by Chan Ho Park has grown strong, and that the fruits of those trees are now leading the majors and inspiring new hope,” Park said.

Betts, Ohtani and Freeman became the first MVPs to hit 1-2-3 in a batting order since Philadelphia‘s Joe Morgan, Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt during 10 games in 1993. The only other instances were by Cincinnati‘s Big Red Machine, with Rose, Morgan and George Foster on May 13, 1978, and Rose, Morgan and Johnny Bench on May 5, 1976.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, another big Dodgers addition this offseason, makes his major league debut Thursday after agreeing to a 12-year, $325 million contract. He had an 8.38 ERA over 9⅔ innings in three spring training outings.

“I’m not really concerned about the numbers,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter.

Joe Musgrove starts for the Padres on Thursday after going 10-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 17 starts last year.

The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Rangers’ struggling García to IL with ankle injury

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Rangers' struggling García to IL with ankle injury

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers put struggling slugger Adolis García on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left ankle and activated outfielder Evan Carter.

Texas, which is chasing an American League wild-card berth, made the moves their series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Another outfielder, Wyatt Langford, was held out of the lineup because of forearm stiffness, but manager Bruce Bochy said he could be available to pinch-hit.

García is hitting .224 with 16 homers and 64 RBIs in 116 games. He hit .176 (6 for 34) during the nine-game homestand that ended with Wednesday’s game.

Carter, who turns 23 later this month, missed 10 games because of back spasms. He was in a 4-for-34 slump when he was placed on the IL on Aug. 2. He hit .238 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 55 games before then.

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D-backs’ DeSclafani to IL after turn as starter

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D-backs' DeSclafani to IL after turn as starter

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Arizona Diamondbacks placed right-hander Anthony DeSclafani on the 15-day injured list Wednesday because of right thumb inflammation after he made three starts.

DeSclafani (1-2, 4.36 ERA) has been primarily a reliever for the Diamondbacks but made the starts this month after Merrill Kelly was traded to the Texas Rangers at the deadline on July 31.

Arizona made the move with DeSclafani before the series finale at Texas, when Kelly was starting for the Rangers. The Diamondbacks recalled right-hander Casey Kelly from Triple-A Reno.

“We’re hoping for the minimal time. He’s going to get some imaging just to make sure that everything’s OK,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “This is something that popped up a couple days ago. We all felt that he was going to be able to take the baseball and go out there and compete, which he did. We saw the stuff in the first couple of innings, and we decided it was time to take him off the field.”

In the three starts this month, DeSclafani is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA, allowing six runs in 9⅔ innings. He threw three innings Tuesday night, allowing two runs in a game Arizona won 3-2 on a homer by Ketel Marte in the ninth.

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Twins no longer for sale; owners eye investors

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Twins no longer for sale; owners eye investors

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins are no longer for sale, executive chair Joe Pohlad announced Wednesday on behalf of his family.

After exploring a variety of options over the past 10 months, the Pohlad family will remain the principal owner of the club and add new investors instead. Carl Pohlad, a banking magnate and the late grandfather of Joe Pohlad, purchased the Twins in 1984 for $44 million.

“For more than four decades, our family has had the privilege of owning the Minnesota Twins. This franchise has become part of our family story, as it has for our employees, our players, this community, and Twins fans everywhere,” Joe Pohlad said in his announcement. “Over the past several months, we explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities. Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities.”

Pohlad said the family was in the process of adding two “significant” limited partnership groups to bring in fresh ideas, bolster critical partnerships and shape the long-term vision of the franchise that relocated to Minnesota in 1961 after originating as the Washington Senators. Details about the new investors will be kept private until Major League Baseball approves of the transactions, Pohlad said.

The Twins are on track for their lowest attendance total in 16 seasons at Target Field, and an ownership-mandated payroll reduction last year, among other factors, has contributed to a dissatisfied customer base. The Twins traded 10 players off their roster leading up to the July 31 deadline, furthering the frustration. Word that the Pohlads are staying put certainly won’t help the morale of Minnesota baseball fans, who’ve been waiting for another World Series title since 1991.

“We see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans. That passion inspires us,” Pohlad said. “This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for.”

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