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 inn ings. 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 – the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers started 10-0. May said he has a new perspective after a life-threatening esophagus tear last season that happened while swallowing food. But he also showed that he can pitch with a little fire as well. “Well, they started off with the wrong walkout song, so that kind of pissed me off to start the game, but it’s OK. It ended up being a good start,” May said. “There was definitely a lot of emotions that got let out after the first hitter, the first inning. … It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It was just super, super great to be back out there.” 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. As clutch as Betts was during the third time through the order against Sale, May was the star of this show. “It was amazing just knowing the journey that he’s been through, knowing that I’m able to see a lot of it, see the frustrating things and the buildup and obviously the start today,” Betts said. “He did a great job. He did an amazing job. We can’t ask for anything more than what he did today, and I’m glad to have him back.” Sale, the National League Cy Young Award winner last season, faced one more batter after Betts 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. The Dodgers and the 1933 New York Yankees are now the only defending World Series champions to start the following season with a 7-0 record. Those Yankees failed to make it to the World Series for the chance at a repeat title. “It is certainly not easy,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “… I think we just do a really good job of just kind of resetting and getting ready for the next day.” 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 the esophagus tear that happened while eating a salad. “It’s kind of really made him appreciate taking the mound, being active in the big leagues,” Roberts said. “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. Betts was 175 pounds when his stomach virus hit toward the end of spring training. He dropped as low as 157 pounds and is at 167 pounds now and climbing. “They were scraping the wall, but they’re going over,” Betts said of his home runs. “I don’t know how long it’ll take (to get back to 175 pounds), but as long as they’re going over, that’s all that matters.” Related Articles Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman sits out again after ‘freak accident’ in shower Dodgers beat Braves, run season-opening winning streak to 6 games Torpedo talk: Dodgers hitters are ‘curious,’ will try new bat design Freddie Freeman re-injures right ankle, out of Dodgers’ lineup on Monday Dodgers’ Mookie Betts says transition to shortstop is about winning ...read more read less