MLB Opening Day in Dodger Stadium. AKA the Los Angeles Victory Lap. The defending champions take Chavez Ravine for the first time since defeating the Yankees in last fall’s World Series. The proceedings are cast under the San Gabriel Mountains, and with an extra dose of intrigue — two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell makes his first start in Dodger Blue.
How to watch Detroit Tigers at LA Dodgers
Snell duels with Tarik Skubal, the incumbent AL Triple-Crowner and last year’s unanimous AL Cy Young. This is a banger of a pitching matchup. It earned the “Baseball Tonight” squad on a Thursday afternoon.
LA’s lineup is verging on all-time stacked status. Even if Mookie Betts isn’t 100 percent as he battles dehydration, Skubal still has to get through the sport’s 50-50 supernova Shohei Ohtani … plus November icon Freddie Freeman, big bats in Max Muncy, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith, even under-the-radar signee Michael Conforto. The team broke the 2025 seal in its Tokyo series with the Chicago Cubs, sweeping the two-game set with swagger.
Detroit was a thrill down the stretch. It was a seller at the trade deadline and struggled to stay .500 through the summer but rode a propulsive September into its first playoff series win since 2013. Here’s looking at you, A.J. Hinch. Outfielder Riley Greene led the Tigers with 24 long balls in his age-23 season.
Starting pitchers: Tarik Skubal (DET, LHP), Blake Snell (LAD, LHP)
Most home runs in both jerseys:
- Kirk Gibson (237; 195 DET, 42 LAD)
- Gary Sheffield (173; 129 LAD, 44 DET)
- Frank Howard (136; 123 LAD, 13 DET)
- J.D. Martinez (132; 99 DET, 33 LAD)
Tigers at Dodgers odds
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