Keep in mind that this article was written on July 23rd, not August 5th.
Opening Day 2020 is finally here, and man am I excited! To celebrate the long-awaited start to a 60-game sprint to the finish, I’m going to be giving my predictions for both games. However, it’s not just final scores. I’m going to take you through my predictions of what’s going to happen in each inning. First, we are going to get into, arguably, the most hyped up Opening Day matchup in baseball. The New York Yankees going up against the defending champion Washington Nationals. Then, we are going to get into the night-capper out west, where the stacked Los Angeles Dodgers team takes on their crosstown rivals in the San Francisco Giants. Without further ado, let’s jump into the predictions.
Out in the nation’s capital, it’s going to get wild. There is an awesome pitching matchup on tap, with two of the best starters in baseball on the mound in the same game. The Yankees have the newly-signed Gerrit Cole on the bump and on the other side, the Nationals have the guy that’s making his 3rd straight Opening Day appearance in Max Scherzer. Another thing that’s wild is that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading man for the coronavirus task force, is throwing the first pitch before the game. Last time I checked, I’ve never seen an infectious disease specialist throw out the first pitch of a baseball game, but 2020’s just a weird year. What else would you expect? Now, onto the game. The first three innings start out cold for the hitters and hot for the pitchers, as Cole and Scherzer both pitch well and allow 0 runs so far. Then, the 4th inning arrives. Scherzer usually struggles in this inning, posting a 4.00 ERA last year, ironically. Unfortunately, those struggles continue, as he allows mammoth home runs from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to put the Yankees up 2-0 in the top of the 4th. He sets down the rest of the hitters due up, though. When he gets the final out of the inning, he yells into his glove in outrage. On the other hand, Cole’s pitching a masterful outing, pitching 4 innings, no earned runs, no walks, and 6 strikeouts so far. This is nothing new for Cole, as he was 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA in inter-league play last season. A few more innings pass by and Cole is still out on the bump, but Scherzer got knocked out in the 6th because of how high his pitch count was, which was 85 pitches. In 7 innings, Cole is still allowing no runs or walks and has 15 strikeouts on the night. In the bottom of the 7th, Mike Ford pinch hits for Luke Voit and gets an insurance run via the home run. The Yankees lead now is extended to 3-0, and it will stay that way. Yankee fans will be ecstatic to get a road win against one of the top pitchers in baseball. Now, let’s head to Los Angeles, where the result is inevitable.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that this game is a super one-sided game. You have the loaded Dodgers lead by Clayton Kershaw, who by the way is 36 strikeouts away from 2,500. Right now, there are only 38 members of the 2,500+ strikeout club. Kershaw is trying to become the 39th. Also, just last night, Mookie Betts signed a 12 yr contract with the Dodgers worth about a whopping $380 million. You bet that he’s going to be excited to get things going with his new team. Contrastingly, the Giants are basically the laughing stock of this matchup. Their Opening Day starter is Johnny Cueto, who posted a career-worst 5.06 ERA in 2019. Additionally, their best player, Buster Posey, just opted out of playing these season due to just adopting premature twins. As you might expect, Cueto gets pulled in the first by allowing 6 runs, including Betts and Cody Bellinger both hitting home runs. It seems like the Betts and Bellinger duo are hitting their stride early. On the pitching side, Kershaw pitched a solid 6-inning outing, allowing only one run and grabbing 10 strikeouts along the way. The Giants bullpen doesn’t help relieve Cueto at all, as the Dodgers put up an astounding 20 runs. The final score is Dodgers 20 and Giants 1. The Dodgers look to keep this momentum going not just against bad teams, but good teams as well. As for the Giants, they might as well dig themselves into a hole and hide there for the rest of the season.
Sources: mlb.com, baseball-reference.com