LOS ANGELES — Two years after last taking the mound in a regular-season game, Dustin May was everything the Dodgers remembered.
With his red frizzy hair flowing from the back of his cap, May was a man in motion on Tuesday night, while essentially matching Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale for five innings.
The outing gave the Dodgers enough time to mount a rally in an otherwise stagnant night for offense as they pulled out a 3-1 victory to improve to 7-0 on the season. It is the best start for any L.A. era Dodgers team and matches the 1933 New York Yankees for the best start by a defending World Series champion.
May gave up just one hit over his first five frames on a major league mound since May of 2023. And while he did allow a run, it was unearned when shortstop Mookie Betts fumbled the ball while trying to turn a double play, allowing Marcell Ozuna to score.
Betts made amends in the sixth inning with a two-run home run for a 2-1 lead that was just the breakthrough against Sale they needed. Sale, the National League Cy Young Award winner last season, faced one more batter when he gave up a single to Tommy Edman.
After Edman stole second base, Will Smith delivered an RBI single to center field off Pierce Johnson as Sale was charged with three runs while pitching into the sixth. All evidence of Sale’s five dominating innings to open the game was lost.
Dodgers left-hander Tanner Scott pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save.
Named the No. 5 starter out of spring training, May wasn’t needed until the seventh game of the season as the result of the two games in Japan in mid-March against the Chicago Cubs and a long wait until the home opener Thursday.
After his final start of spring training, May revealed that Tuesday’s outing would be an emotional one. There was not only the long recovery from Tommy John surgery, but a life-threatening situation when May tore his esophagus while eating a salad.
“It’s kind of really made him appreciate taking the mound, being active in the big leagues,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the 6-foot-6 right-hander. “I think that earlier on (in his career) there’s a lot of youthful enthusiasm, emotion. I think now that he’s understanding how to channel it better, how to conserve energy into his starts. Certainly, growth.
“I think that, just like all things as you get experience, different (challenges), you kind of have a different perspective on things.”
Betts had his own trying time to start the season when a two-week stomach bug led to nearly 20 pounds in weight loss. Any concerns that he would lack strength in the early going have been forgotten with three home runs, including a two-homer game in a victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday.
More to come on this story.