May’s magnificent return helps lift Dodgers to a historic start
by Cary Osborne
This was like a kid on Christmas morning.
The bounce in Dustin May’s step and the sizzle and movement on his pitches made it clear that he had waited far too long for this moment.
Six hundred and eighty-five days in all. Two Christmases actually passed, a few New Year’s Days and a Dodger World Series championship since the right-hander pitched in a Major League game. The last time was May 17, 2023.
“It literally meant the world to me just to be back out on the mound,” May said. “Because about eight months ago, I didn’t know if I would be.”
May — after 2023 flexor tendon surgery on his right elbow and an emergency esophagus surgery last July — started strong and finished that way in his return to a Major League mound on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium in the Dodgers’ 3–1 win.
After he struck out all three Atlanta Braves batters in the first inning, he made a series of lateral hops from the mound to the dugout. His long legs and long stride got him from point A to point B in a half-dozen hops.
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In the fifth, with a runner on first base, Braves shortstop Nick Allen grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Never one to hide or limit his emotions, May’s exuberant hop took him from the mound to the dugout again.
The 27-year-old had predicted after his final Spring Training start on March 25 that his first start at Dodger Stadium would stir the emotions. It did.
“Just knowing that everything that I’ve been through in the last two years, it was just like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders,” May said. “And it was like, I could just kind of relax. I’ve got my footing. And now we go.”
The biggest takeaway was the stuff. May’s incredible movement and velocity have made him one of the most difficult at-bats in the Major Leagues when he has been healthy.
The Braves were 0-for-6 against his sweeper on Tuesday. He threw his sinker 26 times — 20 for strikes. The four-seamer hit 97.8 mph and played mostly at 95 mph.
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“What really stood out is, I just think the stuff tonight was really good,” said manager Dave Roberts. “He filled up the strike zone, the sinker, the slider, the rhythm of the game for him, he really managed emotions really well. I thought there was going to be a lot more anxiousness, nerves that might reflect some pitch execution. But he bottled it up really well.”
But as good as May was in his return, reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale was a little better through five innings. The Dodgers were 1-for-16 against him — the one hit a third-inning infield single from Teoscar Hernández. Sale hit two batters, but he had the Dodgers pinned down until the sixth.
Then the pins began popping.
Shohei Ohtani singled to lead off the inning. Then Mookie Betts — Sale’s teammate on the Red Sox 2018 World Series championship team — homered to left field. It was another clutch moment for Betts on this homestand.
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The Dodger shortstop hit two home runs on Friday against the Tigers, including a walk-off three-run blast in the 10th inning.
All three of Betts’ homers this season have given the Dodgers a lead.
After Tommy Edman singled, Sale was done.
Edman later scored on a Will Smith RBI single.
Now the Dodgers are 7–0 — the best start in Los Angeles Dodgers history.
The Dodgers have done it after crossing continents, beating the Cy Young Award winner in each league and managing the emotions of celebrating the 2024 World Series championship before consecutive games.
“I think it’s our mindset, it’s our culture that we’ve created,” Betts said on winning the day. “It’s just something that we do, something that’s in our DNA. So if we’re not doing that, something’s wrong.”
May’s magnificent return helps lift Dodgers to a historic s was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.