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Sources: Dodgers will get to open the season at home against Giants after all, but a day earlier

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All’s well that ends well?

That ESPN-driven effort to have the Dodgers open the season in San Francisco March 31 -- instead of at Dodger Stadium against the Giants on April 1 as scheduled -- apparently has been squelched.

Mostly, anyway.

Instead, baseball sources have told The Times’ Dylan Hernandez that the Dodgers-Giants season-opening four-game series will likely start on March 31 at Dodger Stadium.

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So instead of the Dodgers hosting the Giants in the season opener April 1 as previously scheduled, they will host the Giants a day earlier.

That means the Dodgers won’t have to suffer the indignation of having to fly to San Francisco to watch the Giants unfurl their World Series banner on a Thursday, and then return to Los Angeles that night to start the four-game series against the Giants the following day.

Under the current proposal, each of the series’ games would be pushed back one day, leaving the Dodgers with an off day on Monday.

That’s hardly ideal, because the Dodgers already have an off day scheduled on Thursday, April 7, but it certainly beats having to fly up to San Fransisco for one day just to watch the Giants celebrate in their ballpark.

The players union apparently wasn’t thrilled about moving the season opener to San Francisco, forcing the teams into an extra travel day.

The Dodgers weren’t really in a position to comment on the proposal, but safe to say, they were far from pleased with the prospect either.

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ESPN apparently is looking for a season-opening double-header that includes the Giants. Yeah, the Dodgers play the supporting role in this one.

The original proposal would have simply added the extra game in San Francisco, meaning the Dodgers and Giants would have opened the season playing five consecutive games. Somebody thought this was a good idea. An April 11 Dodgers-Giants game then would have been removed from the schedule.

Under the current plan, the Giants would get to have their celebration at their previously scheduled home opener April 8 -- against the St. Louis Cardinals. Have a ball.

-- Steve Dilbeck

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