I’m not a huge fan of the Project Scoresheet method. Its linear nature is great if you are going to be using it to input to a database, but makes it hard to follow which players are involved in action on the basepaths. One thing it handles very well, though, is the Manfred runner in extra innings. Since the top line of each scorebox records what happens before the end of the plate appearance, I just jot “A2” for automatic runner on second and proceed as if everything is perfectly normal and that I am not watching some kind of Frankenstein monster being passed off as baseball.
Both Clayton Kershaw and Zach Plesac allowed a single run over five and six innings respectively, and both bullpens kept the game scoreless into the tenth (although the Dodgers’ relievers allowed just one walk in four innings while Guard’s relievers had to escape jams in the seventh and ninth. The latter was particularly scary as Oscar Gonzalez flat dropped a flyball that should have been the second out, putting runners at first and third before Anthony Gose struck out Gavin Lux and got Trea Turner to foul out).
In the tenth, the Guards used an Andres Gimenez infield single and Richie Palacios pinch-hit sac fly to push across their free runner, while the Dodgers mustered a walk but never advanced theirs against Anthony Gose and Enyel De Los Santos.
Zach Plesac failed to escape the first inning, allowing a three-run Yermin Mercedes homer along with three additional tallies. Meanwhile, Carlos Rodon was methodically cutting down the Indians inning after inning. Through his first twenty-five batters faced he had six strikeouts and nothing else on his pitching line. But on a 1-2 count he grazed Roberto Perez with a backfoot slider. He fanned Yu Chang and got Jordan Luplow to ground to third to complete the no-hitter, but he had come oh so close to the majors’ first perfect game in nine seasons.
Seattle crushed Chris Sale and the defending champion Red Sox on Opening Day. Sale went just three innings, allowing seven runs, including one homer from Edwin Encarnacion and two from Gordon Beckham. Ryon Healy and Domingo Santana would homer off the Boston bullpen to extend the lead.
Boston put up some hits of their own; they had eleven to Seattle’s twelve, but Boston’s accounted for just fourteen total bases while Seattle’s were worth thirty-two, which was reflected in the 12-4 final score.
