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Opening Day Recap: Kendrick And Rollins Power Dodgers To Win

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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The Dodgers finally got on board in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez that stayed just inside the foul pole in right field. Kendrick followed with a triple that Myers lost in the sun and later scored on Crawford’s RBI to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.



Gyorko’s diving stop robbed Juan Uribe of a hit and saved a run, Shields ended the inning by getting Pederson to pop out and striking out Kershaw after intentionally walking A.J. Ellis. Barmes led off the fifth with a double, which was followed by two Kershaw strikeouts.

Norris beat out a grounder hit to Uribe that kept the inning alive and created a situation for Kemp to once again hurt his former team, which he did with a two-RBI double to regain the lead for the Padres at 3-2.

Rollins was retired for the first time in the game via a strikeout to start the bottom half of the inning. Puig reached first after getting hit on the hand and Gonzalez put two runners on with a single to right. Kendrick hit into a fielder’s choice but Crawford was unable to deliver as he struck out swinging.

Kershaw got more help from his defense in the sixth as Pederson made a sliding catch for the first out on a ball hit toward the right-center field gap. Gyorko drew a walk, but was gunned down by Ellis on his stolen bases attempt. Kershaw walked his second batter of the inning but closed out his final frame of the day with a strike out.

Pederson hit a one-out double in the bottom of the sixth and proceeded to easily steal third base. However, he was then stranded as Ellis and pinch-hitter Justin Turner both went down swinging and the Dodgers continued to trail, 3-2.

Yimi Garcia was the first Dodger reliever to take the mound and he picked up from where he left off in Spring Training. Garcia threw a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts as he retired the side in order.

Nick Vincent took over for the Padres in the seventh and recorded two outs before getting into trouble. Gonzalez hit a two-out double down the left field line and Kendrick tied the game by legging out an RBI double that Kemp didn’t field cleanly.

Vincent was replaced by Frank Garces, who intentionally walked pinch-hitter Scot Van Slyke. Padres manager Bud Black quickly went back to his bullpen, calling on Shawn Kelley and the right-hander ended the inning by getting Uribe to ground out.

Joel Peralta retired Kemp to lead off the eighth and erased a Justin Upton single by getting Will Middlebrooks to hit into an inning-ending double play. Pederson led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk, though Ellis failed to advance him as he popped up a sac-bunt attempt.

Andre Ethier batted for Peralta and hit a slow roller to first base that Alonso didn’t field cleanly but recovered and tossed to Kelley, who missed the bag and Ethier was safe. The miscue proved costly as Rollins’ three-run home run gave the Dodgers a 6-3 lead.

Chris Hatcher was called on to close the game out and he got off to a rough start as he hit leadoff batter Gyorko with a pitch. Hatcher quickly recovered by inducing a double play and ending the game on a strikeout.

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2 Comments

  1. What a win today. Kendrick and Rollins, just absolute consummate professionals. Glad to see A-Gon not missing a beat. Pederson looked great at the plate; just zoned in and not worried about anything else. And that GREAT CATCH, WOW!! Puig will come around, probably still shaken up by Kendrick’s elbow. Worried about Uribe, but at least we have Olivera (hopefully healthy) waiting on the wings. And how about that bullpen? Phenomenal!!

    Feel bad (not) for the Padres; no amount of heavy hitters can make up for their lack of defense. Myers losing the ball, Kemp bobbling it around, Kelly/Alonso bobbling the ball for Ethier, etc. Will haunt them all year long. Sorry, Padre fans. And their bullpen just lost it. Can’t just rely on hitters, starting pitchers, and Kimbrel. Did they not learn from our mistakes from last year? LOL. GO DOYERS!!!

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