Star first baseman felt discomfort in the same area on his left side where he suffered torn rib cartilage on the eve of the playoffs last fall.

Freeman was scratched from Tuesday’s game due to left rib discomfort and will now miss Wednesday’s game for precautionary measures.

Despite being ill for the entire trip, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts led a players-only meeting at the Tokyo Dome Saturday afternoon.

Shortstop Mookie Betts has returned to Los Angeles to continue recovering from an illness that will cause him to miss the Dodgers’ first two games of the regular season at the Tokyo Dome

Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts will miss both games of the upcoming Tokyo Series against the Chicago Cubs because of illness, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has announced. However, Betts is expected to recover in time to play in the Dodgers' stateside opener against the Detroit Tigers on March 27.

But the Japanese players who were playing in front of their home country at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday handled any jitters they had quite well, delivering in clutch moments as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1, in Major League Baseball’s season opener.

The baseball-mad country of Japan greeted perhaps the brightest star it has ever produced with silence. When Shohei Ohtani stepped into the batter’s box to open Major League Baseball’s season against his fellow countryman,