It was only a spring training game, the first of 33 scheduled to be played by the Dodgers this spring and reason alone not to get too excited about it. But it was also the first Dodger game in 136 days, which was every reason to be excited about it.

The game, which was against the Dodgers most-hated rivals – the San Francisco Giants, began nearly two and a half hours later than originally scheduled due to scattered rain showers in the greater Phoenix area. In fact, it was the only Cactus League day game that was not postponed.

…and it was won rather handily by the Dodgers by an eventual score of 10-4.

It saw excellent pitching by Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin and an early show of power by Dodgers starting second baseman Max Muncy, replacement left fielder Kiké Hernandez and starting shortstop Chris Taylor, who slugged solo, two-run, and solo home runs respectively.

“It’s been a few years (since I hit a spring training home run), that’s why I’m a little worried right now,” Muncy kidded with SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo during an in-game interview in the Dodgers dugout after his third-inning blast, which would have easily landed in “the ocean” at San Francisco’s Oracle Park. “It felt good, that’s the most important part. We put in a lot of work in the offseason making some subtle changes to be able to adjust to offspeed better, so I was happy with the first swing quite a lot. I got a changeup and was able to ride out through it. To be able to do that on the first day of spring, I felt really, really good about that.”

In his one inning of work in the Dodgers’ Cactus League opener, Gonsolin made a total of 16 pitches (nine strikes) to the three batters he faced. And even though spring training games are often called “meaningless games,” it’s hard not to like what we saw from the 25-year-old Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, CA.

The Dodgers will make their Spring Training 2020 home debut on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. MT (12:05 PT) against the Chicago Cubs at Camelback Ranch, with left-hander Alex Wood scheduled to start for the Dodgers. The game is a sell-out and fans are encouraged to arrive early and to carpool due to limited parking.

Try convincing the 10,000+ fans who will be there on Sunday (and even more so the thousands who will not) that these are “meaningless games.”

Play Ball!

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