Powerful starts for last year’s pennant winners as the Dodgers and Yankees stay unbeaten

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2025.

In the spirit of this year’s NCAA basketball tournaments — where Goliath has defeated David at almost every opportunity — the baseball season began with its own version of chalk supremacy.

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, last year’s pennant winners, are a combined 8-0. The Dodgers followed up their two-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in Japan by taking three in a row from Detroit. The Yankees bashed their way to three straight wins over Milwaukee, scoring 36 runs and hitting 15 homers against the defending NL Central champs.

New York’s start was particularly encouraging after the Yankees lost Juan Soto in the offseason and then had Gerrit Cole go down to a season-ending arm problem. So far their offense has looked so good, the torpedo-shaped bats — with wood lower down the barrel — has become a significant story.

Four Yankees already have multiple home runs — Aaron Judge with four, Jazz Chisholm with three, and Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe with two apiece.

It’s been a similar power show for the Dodgers, who are hitting just .224 as a team but have 12 homers — three in each of the past four games.

BetMGM is offering 5-1 odds on the Dodgers to break the major league record by winning at least 117 games in the regular season.

Top challengers?

Two teams that could push Los Angeles at the top of the National League — Atlanta and San Diego — played a four-game series, and the Padres swept it. The Braves went 1 for 22 with runners in scoring position, and they didn’t have a single opportunity with RISP in Sunday’s finale, managing just one hit against Nick Pivetta and two relievers.

Fernando Tatis Jr. went 7 for 15 with a homer and three stolen bases for the Padres in the series.

Welcome back

Mike Trout returned for the Los Angeles Angels after his 2024 season ended early because of a knee injury. Trout singled Sunday for his first hit of the season.

Orioles closer Félix Bautista threw a scoreless inning Saturday after he missed all of last year because of Tommy John surgery. Miami ace Sandy Alcántara also missed all of 2024 thanks to Tommy John surgery. He threw 4 2/3 innings Thursday in a 5-4 win over Pittsburgh.

Jacob deGrom actually came back from his Tommy John surgery late last season, but any time he’s on the mound it feels like a moment to savor given his health issues. He threw five scoreless frames Sunday for Texas in a 3-2 win over Boston.

It was deGrom’s 10th start since the beginning of the 2023 season, and he hasn’t thrown more than 92 innings since 2019, his second straight Cy Young campaign for the New York Mets.

Trivia time

Baltimore beat Toronto 12-2 on Thursday, scoring double-digit runs on opening day for a third straight year. Who were the winning pitchers in those games?

Line of the week

Judge hit three of New York’s nine home runs in a 20-9 win over the Brewers on Saturday. One of his homers was a grand slam, and he finished with eight RBIs. The Yankees’ power display — which included homers on Milwaukee starter Nestor Cortes’ first three pitches — helped overshadow five New York errors in the field.

The Yankees fell just short of the major league record for homers in a game. The Toronto Blue Jays hit 10 in an 18-3 win over Baltimore in 1987.

Comeback of the week

Down by four, the Arizona Diamondbacks scored eight runs on their way to a 10-6 win over the Cubs on Sunday. Arizona’s win probability was down to 3.3% in the eighth, according to Baseball Savant.

The decisive rally included an RBI single by pitcher Ryne Nelson, who was batting because designated hitter Ketel Marte had moved to second base, forcing Arizona’s lineup to include the pitcher’s spot. With no full-time hitters left on the bench, the Diamondbacks sent Nelson up to pinch-hit for reliever Justin Martinez.

Trivia answer

Kyle Gibson, Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Noah Trister, The Associated Press