Padres beat Dodgers on Robinson night

San Diego Padres Everth Cabrera (right) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by Kyle Blanks as Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A J Ellis attempts to make the tag during the ninth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Los Angeles, on Monday. (Reuters)

AFP/New York

Squaring off for the first time since their brawl, Los Angeles and San Diego were able to set aside any differences and commemorate the 66th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s colour barrier.

San Diego’s Eric Stults pitched six solid innings and crushed a three-run homer in a 6-3 win a week after a wild melee between the two clubs left Dodger pitcher Zack Greinke with a broken left collarbone.

But the focus at Dodger Stadium was on the baseball Monday and the anniversary of Los Angeles native Robinson becoming the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.

Hollywood legend Harrison Ford threw out the first pitch and players on both teams wore Robinson’s No 42.

The on-field ceremony included Robinson’s widow, Rachel, his daughter, Sharon, and son, David, as well as other Major League Baseball and Dodgers dignitaries.

Civil rights pioneer Robinson grew up in nearby Pasadena, California where he attended Pasadena City College before transferring to Los Angeles-based UCLA.

The 70-year-old Ford was also on hand to celebrate the legacy of Robinson. Ford portrays Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey in the movie 42, which chronicles the 1947 breaking of baseball’s colour barrier by Robinson. The film opened in American theaters on Friday.

“Jackie Robinson running onto Ebbets Field is not only the most important and powerful moment in baseball history, but it also changed the course of American history,” MLB commissioner Bud Selig said.