Friday’s season opener for the Dodgers went pretty much as expected.

Pretty much.

The Dodgers topped the Colorado Rockies rather handily, scoring five runs on eight hits, supported by strong pitching performances from starter Walker Buehler, relievers Brusdar Graterol, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, and new Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel.

The game, however, wasn’t without its ‘moments.’ One such moment occurred in the top of the fourth inning, during which the Dodgers scored all five of their runs.

The inning began with a one-out single to right field by Dodgers catcher Will Smith. This was followed by a sharp double to left field by left fielder Chris Taylor to move Smith to third base. After a pop-out to center by Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger (who continues to struggle horribly at the plate), second baseman Gavin Lux lined a single to center, scoring Smith and Taylor to tie the game 2-2. It also set up one of those ‘moments.’

With Lux on first base, five-time All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts roped a double into the left-field corner, allowing Lux to score from first base … but it wasn’t pretty.

“I stumbled around second, get to third, stumble around third,” Lux explained postgame. “And then I see (on-deck batter) Freddie [Freeman] hit me with a ‘down, down, down,’ and I’m like stumbling still. So I kinda just bellyflopped, I think, onto home plate.

“So everybody thought it was funny; I couldn’t catch my breath. So it’s all fun and games. I scored, so who cares,” Lux added with a grin.

“It was pretty funny, is what it was. It was bad,” Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner said when asked about Lux’s ‘bellyflop.’ “I saw it happen at third base; he almost missed third, fell at third, and then…

“I’m just glad he made it home. There was no play; I’m glad there wasn’t a throw from shortstop, but that was something funny. We’re definitely not going to let him live that down,” Turner added, with a huge smile on his face.

All kidding aside, Lux – and the Dodgers – are extremely fortunate that the 24-year-old Kenosha, WI native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2016 out of Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, WI, wasn’t injured rounding the bases or on his unorthodox slide at the plate. It was, in every sense, crude but effective.

Play Ball!

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