Birthday celebrations all around in home opener

Tuesday was all about celebrating birthdays in Los Angeles. Dodger Stadium turned 50, and members of the 1962 team were on hand to celebrate.

Andre Ethier turned 30, and he got to celebrate with 56,000 of his closest friends.

Ethier gave everyone a reason to smile, as his solo homer in the eighth gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead that would hold up over the Pirates. It was a dramatic way to commemorate 50 years at one of the best ballparks in baseball, even after all this time.

Luckily for everyone who roots for the Dodgers (and those who wear the uniforms), Clayton Kershaw was at full strength for the start. His last start, if you recall, went only three innings in San Diego on Opening Day thanks to the flu. It's a wonder how he even pitched at all.

But today he showed no signs of sickness, as he cruised his way to seven innings of four hits, one run, no walks, and seven strikeouts. A typical ho-hum day for him. He just barely missed getting a win by an inning, but with an ERA of 0.90 after two starts, I'm pretty sure the wins will come.

The Dodgers got things going in the first. After setting down the Pirates in order, Dee Gordon led off with a single. On the very first pitch to Mark Ellis, he swiped second with ease. Small ball was played next, as Ellis got him to third on a groundout, and Matt Kemp collected another RBI with a groundout, making it 1-0.

The second inning saw scoring chances for both teams, but no runs. Casey McGehee hit a long fly ball leading off to Kemp in center, and thanks to a whole lot of sun, Kemp was unable to grab it for a triple. No worries, as two strikeouts and a flyout to left ended that threat. The Dodgers put two men on, and Kershaw was almost able to get a run in, but a slick play by Neil Walker ended the inning on a forceout at second.

I'd love to tell you that a whole of action happened in the middle chunk of this game, but I'd be lying if I did. The Pirates couldn't do much of anything, as they were scoreless through six. The home team put runners on here and there, but couldn't get the big hit.

The Pirates, to their credit, kept plugging away against the reigning Cy Young Award winner and tied the game in the seventh. Alex Pressley and Andrew McCutchen hit singles leading off. McGehee then hit another long fly ball that was gloved by Juan Rivera in left, yet both runners were able to tag on the late throw to third. Not getting the ball to second proved costly, as Matt Hague's grounder to short was able to score a run instead of being a double play.

The game remained knotted at one heading into the bottom of the eighth, as the Dodgers were desperate for that one big hit. Ethier morphed into Andre the Giant again, as his two-out shot to right gave the Dodgers the lead for good.

Javy Guerra surrendered a single to Pressely with one out, but the double play combination of Gordon and Ellis was able to get the speedy McCutchen to end the game. It's Guerra's third save in as many chances.

For a place that's seen many historic hits in its time, Ethier's game-winner was a nice little nod to that history. Plus it's another indication that he's back and completely healthy, as he's hitting .316 with two homers to start the year. The lethal duo of Kemp and Ethier in the 3-4 spots looks to be back.

Even though the Dodgers didn't have the lead again until the eighth, they effectively followed their blue print of getting seven innings out of the starter, then turning to another lethal duo on the pitching side, Kenley Jansen and Guerra. Jansen was just untouchable, as he pretty much threw it anywhere over the plate, and nobody could hit it.

The general consensus before the season was that Jansen will be the closer at some point this year. And to that, I say that I hope not. What I mean by that is that I hope Guerra continues to show that he has the ninth inning on lockdown. If he falters at all, then Jansen deserves a shot. But if ain't broke, don't fix it. And trust me, it ain't broke.

With the home opener out of the way, the Dodgers will be back in action Wednesday night. It'll be a good pitching matchup, as Chad Billingsley goes against Erik Bedard. Both men pitched with something to prove in their first starts, as Bills shut down the Padres on 11 strikeouts, and Bedard was a tough-luck loser to Roy Halladay on a 1-0 score.