Adrian Gonzalez Breaks Out

Adrian Gonzalez drove in 4 runs yesterday in support of Hyun-Jin Ryu's 6 1/3 innings of 2 run baseball. He picked up his first major league win in the process and gave the Dodgers the sweep of the Pirates in the 6-2 victory. Ryu's only mistake was allowing a two-run homer by Andrew McCutchen in the top of the first. The Dodgers quickly got that back on a two-run single by Adrian Gonzalez in the bottom of the frame. Gonzalez had three hits, all singles, on the day and Justin Sellers had his first hit on the season, a solo homerun in the seventh inning. I still really don't understand the reasoning behind keeping Sellers over Dee Gordon to open the season, especially with Hanley Ramirez on the Disabled List. Sellers is not going to hit much over .200 whereas Gordon is probably going to hit more but with less power. Gordon is going to offer much more speed on the basepaths and on defense as evidenced by his highlight making catch for the Albuquerque Isotopes a few games ago. Sellers does offer defensive versatility as he can play multiple positions but so can Luis Cruz and Nick Punto. Matt Kemp had his second hit and second RBI on the season so here is to Kemp breaking out of his mini-slump and regaining his MVP form.

Clayton Kershaw Does It Again

I would hate to think that Clayton Kershaw has to throw a shutout every time he takes the mound for the Dodgers this season but that has been the case thus far. He pitched 7 shutout innings against the Pirates on Saturday night in his second start of the season extending his scoreless innings streak to 16 and Mark Ellis drove in the lone run in the third inning to give him all the run support he would need. Matt Kemp went hitless for the fourth time in 5 games but I am sure he will snap out of it. I remember the year, I believe it was somewhere around 1980 or '81, that Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and I believe it may have been Dave Lopes that all started the season in something like 1 for 20 slumps. Carl Crawford is the only Dodger that has really been hot at the plate hitting .438 to this point. The Dodgers go for the sweep against the Pittsburgh pirates tomorrow with Hyun Jin-Ryu on the mound in his second start of the season.

Vin Scully

I got to actually watch my first Dodger game of the year last night on the free preview o0f the MLB package on Directv with Vin Scully doing the announcing. He is by far the smoothest broadcaster in the history of the game. He may not be the most colorful and he doesn't have a signature homerun call like the majority of the other announcer do, but he is a professional in the finest sense of the word. He is the Dodgers announcer but he is not blatantly biased, screaming outrage at every missed or bad call, and that is part of what makes him such a great announcer. He may have been the most important free agent the Dodgers kept this off season.

Greinke's Dodger Debut

The Los Angeles Dodgers biggest free agent acquisition during the off season, starting pitcher Zach Greinke, made his debut last night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greinke delivered in his first outing only giving up 2 hits and 0 runs in 6 1/3 innings but the Dodgers could still only put up three runs on the board in a 3-0 victory. I realize they have only played 4 games but they have only scored 10 runs in those 4 games, and with that much offensive firepower, I was hoping for 7 or 8 runs a night. Andre Ethier led the Dodgers offense last night with a solo homerun, his first of the year, and Matt Kemp had his first hit and RBI, a double in the fifth inning. Closer Brandon League came on to pitch the ninth inning and get his first save of the year.

Not The Beginning I Expected

Losing two out of three to the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants was not the beginning to the season that I envisioned. Dodgers starter Josh Beckett fell victim to the long ball as he gave up two homers in six innings, 5 runs, 3 earned, struckout 4 and walked 2. The Dodgers also failed to take advantage of Giants starter Tim Lincecum's uncharacteristic wildness, he walked 7 in 5 innings, as the Dodgeres went 1-14 with runners on base. The Giants starters did not give up an earned run in 19 innings in the three game series and calling the Dodgers offense anemic would be a gross understatement. Dodgers starters Matt Kemp and Luis Cruz have failed to get a hit thus far this season and Adrian Gonzalez only has one hit. The only Dodger that has come out with a hot bat is Outfielder Carl Crawford going 5-9 in the three games against the Giants.

A Solid Debut

Hyun-Jin Ryu made his major league debut last night, and it was solid but not spectacular. He scattered 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs, only one earned, struckout 5 and walked none. The Dodgers could only muster two hits, AJ Ellis and Andre Ethier, and 0 runs against new Dodger killer Madison Bumgarner in the 3-0 loss. You can cue up Bob Uecker's character Harry Doyle from the movie "Major League", "All we got was two goddamn hits?!"I know it is early in the season but I expected more offense from a team this talented and with this big of a payroll. They have gone up against two of the National League's best in Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner neither of which they scored a run on.

An Opening Day For The Record Books

Clayton Kershaw accomplished something on Opening Day that had not been accomplished since Bob Lemon of the New York Yankees in 1953. He pitched a shutout against the San Francisco Giants and hit the go ahead homerun in the bottom of the eight inning off San Francisco reliever George Kontos to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. It was a blast that cleared the Centerfield fence and was only his second extra base hit in 261 career at bats. The Dodgers added three more in the bottom of the eighth to win 4-0. Kershaw struck out 7, walked none, and threw a very economical 94 pitches. His curveball was off the charts. Is it to early for me to start campaigning for Kershaw for Cy Young/MVP of the National League? Carl Crawford and Mark Ellis led the way with two hits a piece and who needs a bullpen? Magic Johnson was a visible presence at the game and he is the face of the new Dodgers ownership. He was excited at Kershaw's homerun and was all over ESPN's highlights.