Don Mattingly's debut as the Dodgers' skipper will forever be a winning one.
Taking advantage of some horrible defense by the Giants, the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw got the narrow win in game #1, 2-1. The Dodgers now have the best record in baseball, and should carry this undefeated record the rest of the season.
Or hopefully at least through tomorrow.
Facing the dreaded shadows with a 5 P.M. local start, Kershaw was just brilliant. He finished with seven innings pitched, four hits, no runs, one walk, and nine strikeouts. Through four innings, he already struck out eight, and was just as sharp as can be. It's definitely a great sign going forward.
Tim Lincecum was the opposing starter, and the Dodgers were actually able to piece together some hits off of him in the early going. Back to back singles by Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp with two down came in the first, but James Loney grounded out to first.
The next inning, Juan Uribe made his Dodgers' debut with a single, then sped to second on a misplaced ball in center, only to get called out after oversliding the bag. It came back to haunt them, as Rod Barajas singled, taking away the RBI opportunity. Jamey Carroll and Kershaw both struck out to end the inning.
Two more men reached again in the third, as Tony Gwynn got the start in the #2 spot and singled to left, then sped to second on Pat Burrell's bobble. Ethier flew out, Kemp walked, and Loney again couldn't come through with another groundout.
After Kershaw got out of a bit of trouble in the fifth and sixth, the Dodgers finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Kemp took another walk with one out. Loney then grounded to short, but Miguel Tejada fired wide of second, putting runners on the corners. Uribe was then beaned to load 'em up.
After a pitch to Barajas, Buster Posey tried to catch Kemp walking back to third with a quick throw, only to sail it into left. Kemp scored, and it was 1-0.
Another run was tacked on in the eighth. With Santiago Casilla taking over for Lincecum, Kemp took his career-high third walk, and easily stole second. Loney finally got the big at-bat he was waiting for with an RBI double, making it 2-0.
Hong-Chih Kuo had already pitched the eighth, so now it was time for Jonathan Broxton. We all know what he did at the end of last season, and if I were to reiterate it here, I'd be up all night. But anyway, he got Posey bouncing out to first leading off.
Then in an eerie flashback, Burrell lined a fastball over the wall in left, cutting the lead to 2-1. How would Broxton respond? Well, thankfully. Tejada tapped one out in front of the plate, and Brandon Belt lined a soft one to Uribe at third to end the game.
It was a big night all around for the Dodgers, as they were debuting a new manager against the defending champs on national TV. While the bats didn't exactly break out (facing Lincecum has that effect), Kershaw made sure his team represented. And I don't care what the situation is - beating the Giants is always fun.
This game could serve as a microcosm for the rest of the season. The Dodgers don't have the big boppers in their lineup, so runs could be scarce. But, they do have great pitching, and they do have the ability to score when they absolutely need to. That's what happened in this one.
Both teams are back at it on Friday, as the new millionaire Chad Billingsley will take on Jonathan Sanchez. Bills has a tough act to follow, so let's hope the bats can drive in more runs for support.
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