Mookie Betts celebrates hitting a walk-off home run in the 10th inning of an 8-5 win over the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium on Friday night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Five months removed from one storybook ending, the Dodgers are already penning another Hollywood-worthy script.
It started last week in Japan, when the defending World Series champions were fervently welcomed on the other side of the world. It continued into this weekend’s opening homestand; one that featured a sentimental banner-raising celebration at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, then an emotional championship ring ceremony before first pitch Friday.
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Amid that backdrop, the Dodgers might have been forgiven for struggling with an early season hangover. Like countless champions before them, it would have been no surprise for their title defense to begin with a slow first step.
But instead, these Dodgers have embraced all the pomp, absorbed all the circumstance, and put their own triumphant stamp on the season’s opening act.
For the first time since 1981, they’re off to a 4-0 start. And on Friday — in an 8-5, walk-off win over the Detroit Tigers that included a five-run rally and Mookie Betts’ game-winning home run in the 10th inning — they even started to rekindle last year’s magic.
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“By far, the best opening week I’ve ever experienced,” manager Dave Roberts said.
“Kind of feels like we’re just picking up a little bit where we left off last year,” third baseman Max Muncy echoed. “There’s still a lot of fight in this team.”
Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, far right, celebrates with teammates after hitting a three-run home run in the 10th inning against the Tigers on Friday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Friday night was not always destined to end so spectacularly.
Early on the Dodgers generated little against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, one of the few core pieces from their postseason run who didn’t return, and didn’t score until a two-run home run from Freddie Freeman in the sixth.
Later the Dodgers squandered the opportunity for a more rudimentary win. New reliever Tanner Scott blew a save in the ninth and needed his defense to throw out another runner at the plate simply to force extra innings. In the 10th the Tigers quickly surged to a 5-3 lead when Dillon Dingler’s two-run, two-out triple landed just beyond a diving effort from Michael Conforto in…