Three runs was probably always going to be enough for Clayton Kershaw on this Opening Day, as he pitched seven shutout innings allowing just one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts. But then the Dodgers pummeled the Padres for five in the sixth, three in the seventh, and four in the eighth to make it a 15-0 massacre without the benefit of a single longball.
Both starters pitched well on Opening Day (Andrew Cashner 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 W, 5 K and Hyun-Jin Ryu 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 W, 7 K), but the performance of the bullpens diverged significantly. Padre relievers retired nine of the ten batters they faced, while Brian Wilson failed to retire the first five batters he faced, allowing the Padres three decisive eighth inning runs. Chris Perez and Paco Rodriguez struck out the next three, but the damage was done and Huston Street closed the door with eleven pitches in the ninth.
These two teams had also opened the 2012 season (see #439), but this was a very different game: different weather conditions (cold, rainy Cleveland v. the SkyDome), different Tribe skipper (Manny Acta v. Terry Francona), different length of game (16 innings and 5:14 v. 9 innings and 2:31), different outcome (Cleveland blown lead and eventual loss v. Cleveland victory). One thing that was the same was the Cleveland starter, as Justin Masterson turned in another quality Opening Day outing, this time allowing one run on three hits and four walks with four strikeouts over six innings. His opposite number was RA Dickey, making his first start for the Blue Jays after the big offseason trade with the Mets. Dickey went six allowing four runs, and neither bullpen allowed a run so it ended 4-1.
Thankfully that did not to come fruition, not on opening night and not during the season. Postseason hero David Freese picked up where he left off by driving in two with two outs in the first, and the Cards led 3-0 most of the game as Kyle Lohse no-hit the Marlins through six, broken up by Jose Reyes.
Matt Kemp’s two-run homer off Barry Zito in the first helped the Dodgers break in front 3-0, but the Giants got a run back in the second on Pablo Sandoval’s homer, another in the sixth on three two-out singles, and tied it with Pat Burrell’s leadoff shot in the seventh. Los Angeles answered right back as with a four spot keyed by four hits by the five batters who faced Dan Runzler. In the top of the eighth, Hong-Chi Kuo got two outs sandwiched around a double and a walk. Matt Guerrier came on and walked consecutive batters to force in a run, but Miguel Tejada fouled out on the first pitch he saw to end the threat. Aaron Rowand led off the ninth with a pinch-hit homer off Jonathan Broxton, but Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey both grounded out as the potential tying run and the Dodgers held on 7-5.
One might have expected CC Sabathia v. Josh Beckett on Opening Day to be a pitcher’s duel, but it most decidedly was not. Back-to-back homers from Jose Posada and Curtis Granderson helped the Yankees break up 5-2 after five, with Beckett already out. In the sixth, Boston got a two-run triple from Kevin Youkilis to tie it and after Sabathia got Big Papi to ground out, he left as well. Adrian Beltre greeted David Robertson with a single to tie the game. The Yankees answered back with two in the seventh, but the Red Sox immediately tied it on Dustin Pedroia’s homer off Chan Ho Park and took their first lead on a Posada passed ball that scored Youkilis. Pedroia would knock in an insurance run in the eighth and the Red Sox won a long (3:46), entertaining opener 9-7.
I don’t find the dots that I used to shoehorn the pitches into this scoresheet to be visually appealing, which matches how this game went for the Tribe. Fausto Carmona allowed seven runs in four innings (including homers by Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher) and Tomo Ohka mopped up for five long relief innings.
In CC Sabathia’s first start in Cleveland after being traded the previous summer, he went 4 1/3 hitless innings before Shin-Soo Choo singled up the middle and three of the next four added singles. It ended up as a quality start (7 IP, 3 R, 3 W, 7 K) for Sabathia and a fairly easy victory.
Fausto Carmona’s (sorry, Roberto Hernandez’s) 2008 season would not go like his 2007 season did, but it started that way. Carmona pitched seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, walks, and strikeouts while Cleveland’s offense chipped away for seven runs. Grady Sizemore was 3-4 with a triple, hit batter, two runs, and four RBI.
Angels pitchers held Texas to four hits on Opening Day, with Ian Kinsler’s homer providing the only run for the visitors. Los Angeles got single tallies in the first, second, fifth, and eighth and dominant work from the back end of their bullpen (Justin Speier, Scott Shields, and Francisco Rodriguez retired all eleven batters they faced) to win it 4-1.
