A little home cooking was just what the Dodgers needed.
After limping home following two straight loses in Florida, the Dodgers smacked four home runs to cruise over the Diamondbacks in the home opener, 9-5. The four homers was more than they had in the first six games combined to start the year.
Joe Torre juggled his starting rotation so Clayton Kershaw would get the start in the first game at home, and it worked. Of course, it didn't work that Vicente Padilla was the Opening Day starter, but I digress. Combined with Andre Ethier returning from a brief ankle injury, it was all a recipe for a big day.
James Loney doubled with one out in the second, and he eventually came around to score on Russell Martin's sac-fly RBI, making it 1-0. The Diamondbacks tied it up a couple innings later on Chris Young's RBI single.
The bottom of the fourth is when the Dodgers flexed their collective muscle. Manny Ramirez led off and unloaded on a solo shot estimated at 435 feet, his first of the year. Loney doubled again, and Casey Blake hit his first of the year for a two-run homer, and it was 4-1.
Two more long balls were hit by the rest of the starting outfield. Matt Kemp connected on his second of the year, a solo blast in the fifth. An inning later, Jamey Carroll and Kemp set the table for Ethier, who got on the board himself with a three-run long ball, and the Dodgers were firmly in command at 9-2.
Kershaw had a solid performance, but still was his own worst enemy at certain points. His final line looks good: 5 1/3 innings, three hits, two runs, five walks, and seven strikeouts. It was actually a pretty typical day for him with lots of walks and strikeouts. He walked two and hit a batter to load the bases with one down in the fifth, but somehow wiggled out of it.
He clearly ran out of the steam in the fifth and sixth, but was left in there because of the big lead. In a closer game, he probably would have been yanked, but who knows. The bullpen right now is in pretty rough shape, so Torre is just trying to get his starters as deep as he can.
Jeff Weaver got two outs to end the sixth, but gave up an RBI single to Chris Snyder. Ramon Ortiz, however, was terrible. He somehow gave up three hits, a walk, and three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Pathetic. I can only imagine that the Ortiz boys will be on the unemployment line once Ronald Belisario and Hong-Chih Kuo are healthy because they've done nothing to show they can still pitch at this level.
Despite that hiccup, it was a pretty easy win for the Dodgers, and just at the right time. The Manny-Kemp-Ethier connection all had a huge day, and that's where the Dodgers' strength is. The rest of the starting lineup (except Kershaw in the last spot) got on base. Blake DeWitt had the odd line of 0-for-0 with three walks and an RBI.
The home opener is now history, and the Dodgers will look to build some momentum by sending Chad Billingsley to the hill on Wednesday. He had a great start in Pittsburgh, but so did Rodrigo Lopez at home against the Pirates. So they both beat the Pirates, which we all know is really hard to do. Or not.
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