The Dodgers 2017 season started with a strikeout of Manuel Margot by Clayton Kershaw, courtesy of Public Enemy No. 1, Kershaw’s curve ball.
The rest of the inning did not go quite as smoothly. Wil Myers hit to Corey Seager at short, and Corey committed his first error of the year on the throw to Adrian Gonzalez, advancing Myers to second. He then headed to third on a passed ball by Yasmani Grandal, and scored on a hit by Yangervis Solarte. Kershaw got out of the inning, and things got much better from there.
The Dodgers went on to beat the Padres 14-3.
After that little blip on the radar, Kershaw turned on the cruise control. He did not allow another base runner over the next 5-2/3 innings, before allowing a home run off the bat of Ryan Schimpf. Kersh finished the day with seven innings pitched, 84 pitches, and eight strikeouts, allowing two hits and one earned run. His Opening Day ERA now stands at 0.99.
The Dodgers tied it up in the bottom of the second with an RBI by Joc Pederson, after hits by both Adrian Gonzalez and Logan Forsythe.
In the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, Joc Pederson hit his first of sure-to-be many home runs, the second grand slam of his career. Grandal followed with a home run of his own from the left side, leaving the score 6-1 after three.
And the Dodgers just kept piling it on from there. Every starter had a hit, including Kershaw. In the bottom of the fourth, Kershaw and Toles had back to back singles, and Justin Turner hit a ground-rule double, chasing Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin from the game.
Catcher/outfielder/relief pitcher Christian Bethancourt then entered the game. He didn’t allow a hit, but he did allow two runs to score on wild pitches. On the first wild pitch, Bethancourt went to cover home plate, where Andrew Toles‘ cleat caught his knee. He was able to continue pitching, but then issued the next wild pitch to score Turner.
Seager joined in the home run derby, hitting a three-run blast in the fifth inning to make the score 12-1. Grandal hit a homer from the right-side of the plate in the eighth for his second homer of the day. The vegan diet must be working for Grandal. The four home runs by Dodger players is the most ever on Opening Day.
Forsythe is quickly endearing himself to Dodger fans, going at the plate, and making a Utley-esque glove flip to AGon for an out.
A guy not endearing himself to Dodger fans is Chris Hatcher. He relieved Kershaw in the eighth inning, and allowed a single, a double and a run. He came out to finish the game, allowing an infield hit, and closed out the game.
Dodgers take the field again tomorrow night at 7:10 PM. Kenta Maeda will face Clayton Richard.
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