It was over before the first out was recorded in the top half of the first inning – a half inning that took a half hour to complete – and it was beautiful!

…unless, of course, you are a Padres fan.

In their first official game of Spring Training 2024, the Dodgers annihilated their division rival San Diego Padres by a final score of 14-1, scoring eight of those runs in the top half of the first inning with only one out.

With no outs and the bases loaded, Dodgers starting left fielder Teoscar Hernández hit a ground-rule double on a fly ball to left-center field on which Dodgers second baseman Mookie Betts and shortstop Chris Taylor scored to give the Dodger a very early 2-0 lead. This alone would have been enough for the Dodgers to win their Spring Training Opener against the Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex, but they weren’t finished yet.

Instead, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts‘ team added six more runs, including two on another ground rule double by Dodgers starting third baseman Chris Owings scoring Dodgers starting center fielder James Outman and Hernández, and two more on a two-run home run by Dodgers starting first baseman Kevin Padlo to make it 8-0 Dodgers, still with only one out.

Oh sure, it was only a ‘meaningless Spring Training game.’ But you can bet that Padres manager Mike Shildt and his team were a bit embarrassed, and the Padres fans who suffered through this one a bit mad.

Beautiful indeed.

Play Ball!

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