Giants at Dodgers, 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Kershaw v. Cain. Prime Ticket and ESPN.
Giants v. Dodgers? Who could ask for anything more?
Cain was 1-0 with a 2.73 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers last season, not facing Kershaw head to head. For his career, Cain is 4-8 with a 3.41 ERA in 23 games against L.A.
Kershaw, getting up for his team’s big rival, has been dominant against the Giants. He was 2-3 last year in five games, through no fault of his own. His ERA was 1.62 and he held Giants hitters to a .197 batting average. In 17 career outings against San Francisco, Kershaw is 8-4 with a remarkable 1.37 ERA in 118 innings. His 0.88 WHIP vs. the Giants is his best against any club he’s faced more than twice.
Lineup:
Crawford, C, LF
Ellis, M, 2B
Kemp, M, CF
Gonzalez, A, 1B
Ethier, A, RF
Cruz, L, 3B
Ellis, A, C
Sellers, J, SS
Kershaw, C, P
Gameday here for those without TV access.
What would have been the odds of Kershaw (or any pitcher) being our first HR hitter of the year?
Those who know better, have the Dodgers ever done that before?
Vin mentioned during the game that Drysdale hit a home run in the ’65 opener, and retrosheet confirms it. It was off of Al Jackson and the Mets, but it wasn’t the first Dodger home run of the season. Willie Davis had hit one the inning before.
What’s more surprising to me isn’t that Drysdale would hit a homer, it’s that he was the opening day starter over Koufax. The game log for the six days of the season is very strange. Drysdale started three of the first six games. It was an east coast swing, and it looks like there there were a bunch of rain outs.
Looks like there must have been a bunch of rainouts on the East Coast, as those six games were over a ten day span so he was just doing his regular rotation. Sandy, not.
Thanks
What a great game. I’m still excited!
That’s the way to start a season!
WOW!
Yes indeed, and didn’t Clayton have a huge grin on his face rounding the bases?
Didn’t all of us?!
Ha! Yep, my mother and I sure did.
Forty-seven pitches in four innings, not bad.
That was a frustrating half-inning.
Heck of a pitch to finish off Posey.
Now THAT was fun. Magic Johnson was relieved before he could throw out the first pitch as Mattingly brought in Sandy Koufax to do it.
Stupid mlb.com didn’t pick up the feed until Koufax and the rest were walking off the field.
Hopefully Hanley’s injury is not an indicator of this season blending into last season as far as injuries. If the Dodgers can stay relatively healthy, they take the West going away.
Chickens, hatch. 😉 If Zito performs as he did last season and if Lincecum returns to form the Giants will be tough, I think.
So far, Lincescum’s looking worse than last year.
Strap yourselves in, here goes another bumpy ride (I am nervously excited about this season) 🙂
I remember back when Cain couldn’t beat the Dodgers to save himself. I hope those days return!