Clayton Kershaw is outstanding on opening day. He never loses. Let’s hope I don’t jinx him this time around because when you give the ball to him on opening day it’s one of the safest bets you can ever make. As a matter of fact, Kershaw is one of the greatest opening day pitchers of all time. We all remember what he did to the Giants back in 2013 when he tossed a complete game shutout and hit a home run. His overall body of work during the first game of the regular season is hall of fame worthy.
Kershaw is now 5-0 with a 0.99 ERA on opening day. This is his eighth consecutive opening day nod. If he wins again this afternoon he’ll surpass Don Drysdale for the most wins on opening day in franchise history. He also has the second lowest ERA in MLB history on opening day. Only Rick Mahler has a lower ERA.
Dodgers Lineup vs. Giants
Today’s Dodger lineup vs. Giants:
Taylor CF
Seager SS
Puig RF
Hernández 2B
Bellinger 1B
Kemp LF
Grandal C
Forsythe 3B
Kershaw P#OpeningDay | #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/CRK481SxeN— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 29, 2018
Ty Blach-0-0 vs. Clayton Kershaw-0-0
Game Time – 4:08 PM PST- TV- ESPN
Even more impressive is how well he’s pitched against the Giants. In 40 starts against the Giants Kershaw is 22-9 with a 1.60 ERA. He’s tossed five shutouts and struck out 307 batters against San Francisco. He has a 0.8 career WHIP when pitching versus the Giants. Here’s the stats for the Giants against him. The current Giants are hitting just .203/.235/.279 against Kershaw with 9 home runs across 565 plate appearances.
Kershaw vs. Giants
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | OPS |
| Buster Posey | 109 | 104 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 17 | .240 | .275 | .631 |
| Hunter Pence | 80 | 79 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 17 | .165 | .175 | .378 |
| Pablo Sandoval | 64 | 61 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 12 | .246 | .266 | .561 |
| Brandon Belt | 55 | 51 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | .059 | .127 | .206 |
| Nick Hundley | 54 | 50 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 14 | .260 | .315 | .615 |
| Brandon Crawford | 36 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | .114 | .139 | .253 |
| Andrew McCutchen | 29 | 27 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | .333 | .379 | .898 |
| Joe Panik | 29 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .241 | .241 | .483 |
| Gorkys Hernandez | 24 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | .227 | .292 | .610 |
| Madison Bumgarner | 21 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 12 | .200 | .200 | .700 |
| Kelby Tomlinson | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | .105 | .190 | .454 |
| Mac Williamson | 13 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | .308 | .308 | .846 |
| Johnny Cueto | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Austin Jackson | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .143 | .143 | .286 |
| Ty Blach | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .600 | .600 | 1.400 |
| Evan Longoria | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Austin Slater | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .333 | .667 |
| Chris Stratton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 565 | 538 | 109 | 14 | 0 | 9 | 35 | 21 | 141 | .203 | .235 | .514 |
These Giants are not the same Giants that lost 98 games last year and finished in the cellar. As you know they acquired Andrew McCutchen and Even Longoria from the Pirates and Rays respectively. I for one think it’s pathetic how those two clubs just gave McCutchen and Longoria to the Giants. Here’s hoping they stink.
We will not be seeing Madison Bumgarner as was planned after the southpaw fractured his pinkie finger on his pitching hand. Ty Blach will take his place. The Dodgers are pretty familiar with the left hander. The 27-year old finished with an 8-12 record and posted a 4.78 ERA over 163.2 innings pitched in 2017. Blach is a soft-tossing ground ball pitcher.
His strikeout rate was just 4.0 last year after recording just 73 punch-outs last season. Blach is 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 frames at Dodger Stadium. But again only 4 whiffs over this 13 innings. In 36.1 career innings against the Dodgers Blach is 2-2 with a 2.23 ERA across 7 appearances and four starts. The Dodgers are hitting just .232 (26 for 122) with one home run and eight runs batted in versus Blach.
Blach vs. Dodgers
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | OPS |
| Corey Seager | 15 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .286 | .333 | .762 |
| Yasiel Puig | 14 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .214 | .214 | .429 |
| Justin Turner | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | .273 | .429 | .701 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 11 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .286 | .545 | .831 |
| Enrique Hernandez | 11 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .182 | .182 | .455 |
| Chris Taylor | 11 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .400 | .455 | 1.255 |
| Cody Bellinger | 10 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .300 | .300 | .600 |
| Joc Pederson | 9 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 | .222 | .444 |
| Logan Forsythe | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .200 | .333 | .533 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .250 | .500 |
| Austin Barnes | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Rich Hill | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Kemp | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chase Utley | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Kenta Maeda | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| Rob Segedin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Andrew Toles | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Total | 123 | 112 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 13 | .232 | .295 | .590 |
The San Francisco pitching staff is in shambles. They’ve already lost Bumgarner for at least 4-6 weeks and Jeff Samardzija is out with a shoulder injury too. Another injury to Mark Melancon means three of their top hurlers will begin the season on the disabled list. Look for former Dodger Tony Watson or Sam Dyson to close for the Giants.
Winning opening day is always nice. Since everyone is a contender on opening day, a win sets the tone in a good way early. Getting that first win out of the way gives us all the warm and fuzzies. Remember that Opening day is just one of 162. So let’s make it a good one! Welcome back everyone!
Go Blue!
Dodgers 6-3.
Rams 34-13
49ers 34-13. New Years Eve.
1. Chris Taylor (R) CF
2. Corey Seager (L) SS
3. Yasiel Puig (R) RF
4. Enrique Hernandez (R) 2B
5. Cody Bellinger (L) 1B
6. Matt Kemp (R) LF
7. Yasmani Grandal (S) C
8. Logan Forsythe (R) 3B
9. Clayton Kershaw (L)
Hernandez 4?
Badger
How come you never mentioned KiKi hitting cleanup? He messed up the whole lineup.
I did.
Some good teams starting out with a bang. Cubs, Astros homer in first at bat of game and Stanton goes yard at 117 mph in his first at bat as a Yankee.
What drama will Dodgers provide?
You guys ready!!!???
kershaw never hardly gets any good hitting behind him.. he pitches great and still looses ;; that has to stop