When the Dodgers beat Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day on Thursday at Dodger Stadium, the did so by setting a new Major League Baseball record with their eight Opening Day home runs in the 12-5 shellacking of the snakes; two each by Joc Pederson and Kiké Hernandez and one each by Messrs. Austin Barnes, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, and Max Muncy.

On Friday night the Dodgers set another record in Game-2 of the 2019 campaign, albeit only a franchise record and one which, quite frankly, they’d rather forget … especially come time for first pitch of Game-3 of the new season on Saturday evening.

At 7:10 P.M. (PT) on Friday evening in front of a crowd that began with a reported 42,266 in attendance, the Dodgers played their longest regular season game – timewise – in franchise history; a six-hour and five minute / 13-inning affair that mercifully (but unfortunately) ended in a 5-4 Dodgers loss at 1:15 A.M. (PT) with a by-then very sparse crowd of the die-hardiest of Dodger fans in their (or someone else’s) seats.

Ironically (or perhaps ill-fatedly), Dodgers right-hander Yimi Garcia was tagged with the early morning loss on a two-out double off the bat of pinch-hitting Dbacks back-up catcher Carson Kelly in the top of the 13th inning after issuing a two-out walk to shortstop Nick Ahmed (who promptly stole second base), followed by an intentional walk of catcher Alex Avila, followed by Kelly’s game-winning double.

But to be fair, the game was really lost waaay back in the top of the seventh inning when perennial struggling right-hander Pedro Baez struck out Ahmed on a wild pitch in the dirt that got passed Dodgers veteran catcher Russell Martin, allowing Ahmed to reach first base safely. Instead of being back in the dugout, Baez being Baez then walked Avila to put runners on first and second with the (then) tying run coming to the plate in the form of Dbacks pinch-hitter Christian Walker.

Having once again seen enough of Baez, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought in normally-unhittable right-hander Joe Kelly, who served up a 3-2 / 86-MPH curveball right down Broadway that Walker did not miss and deposited over the centerfield wall to, in fact, tie the game 3-3.

But alas, it is what it is, as kids today say, and the Dodgers will head into Game-3 of the fresh new season on Saturday evening with right-hander Kenta Maeda trying to right the Dodgers exhausted ship. He will oppose Dbacks right-hander Zack Godley and Arizona’s equally exhausted ship.

Play (yawn) Ball!

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