LOS ANGELES -- The star-studded top of the Dodgers' order has long been established as such: Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández.
But when all four were in the same regular-season lineup for the first time this year, manager Dave Roberts opted to deviate from his carefully laid plans with tough left-hander Tarik Skubal on the mound, moving Hern¨¢ndez to the three-hole and batting Freeman cleanup.
"There's a Teoscar tax to get through Freddie the third time," a prescient Roberts said before the Dodgers beat the Tigers, 5-4, in their domestic opener on Thursday.
Indeed, the Tigers had to pay up.
Hern¨¢ndez took reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Skubal deep in the fifth, crushing a three-run shot to straightaway center that returned the lead to the Dodgers. It was the second of three L.A. homers, as Tommy Edman opened the scoring with a solo shot in the second and Ohtani gave the team some breathing room with an opposite-field blast in the seventh.
"Obviously, my homer was good," Hern¨¢ndez said, "but I think the most important was the Shohei one, because they scored two after my homer, and Shohei came up clutch and gave us [insurance] in that situation."
Southpaw Blake Snell had left the mound after the top of the fifth with his team trailing by one. But after Hern¨¢ndez's blast, Snell was in line for his first win after tossing five innings of two-run ball in his Dodgers debut.
"I was excited," Snell said. "I was next to [Clayton Kershaw], ¡®OK, I can get used to that.¡¯"
Los Angeles became accustomed to Hern¨¢ndez's heroics last year, when he put together arguably the best offensive season of his career to set up a return to the Dodgers on a three-year, $66 million deal. He and Ohtani were the team leaders in go-ahead hits with 26 apiece.
After sweeping the Cubs in last week's two-game Tokyo Series, the Dodgers played their first meaningful game in their home ballpark since the World Series. There was a festive air as the team walked in from center field on a blue carpet for the pregame introductions, wearing special gold jerseys as part of a celebration of last season's championship.
"Acknowledging what we accomplished in 2024," Roberts said. "I thought the fans were really into it. ¡ Every day is special in its own right, but having these gold hats and uniforms, we nailed it."
But most of all, the pregame ceremony celebrated the relationship between the Dodgers and Los Angeles, while recognizing that the city has been through a lot since the team paraded through its streets last November. Firefighters from L.A. and Pasadena helped unveil the team's new 2024 title sign down the right-field line, and the Dodgers are beginning a Frontline Heroes of the Game initiative that will highlight firefighters who fought the L.A. area wildfires this season.
There were nods to the past and present alike as the Dodgers celebrated their championship in front of their home crowd, such as when Kirk Gibson threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Freeman in a nod to their uncannily similar World Series walk-offs.
Before that, rapper Ice Cube delivered the World Series trophy to the field in style, and team ownership hoisted a banner commemorating the 2024 championship in center field.
"Playing in front of these fans, and in this circumstance," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, "it did make me want to win. Be able to motivate myself to win another championship."
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the Dodgers are the 21st defending champions -- and the eighth in the expansion era, since 1961 -- to begin a season 3-0 or better. The reigning World Series winner is 80-40 all-time in the following season's home opener (the Dodgers are 6-2).
L.A. has another big celebration remaining at home: Friday's ring ceremony, which is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. PT, about an hour before first pitch. Many around the team are looking forward to receiving one more token of last year's achievement.
But it's also a natural time to turn the page, although the Dodgers have already shifted their mindset toward becoming the first to successfully defend their title in a quarter-century.
"2024 is in the past," Hern¨¢ndez said. "Obviously, it was a great year for everybody; we had a lot of ups and downs, injuries, we lost a lot of guys in the beginning of the season. But we¡¯re focused on 2025 and just trying to repeat."