Joe Panik hits a home run that just stays fair for the only run of the game as San Francisco’s pitching was too much for L.A. in the first game of the season.
Dodgers lose to Giants 1-0
Bottom of ninth: The Dodgers’ streak of seven straight opening-day wins came to an end with Thursday’s 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium.
Down to their final three outs, Matt Kemp led off the ninth inning with a ground-ball single to center off fill-in closer Hunter Strickland, who replaced the injured Mark Melancon. Austin Barnes came on to run for Kemp, and Yasmani Grandal struck out swinging at a 1-and-2 curveball.
Logan Forsythe hit a towering popup into foul territory. Catcher Buster Posey called for the ball near the Dodgers’ third-base dugout, but third baseman Evan Longoria called off Posey and made a basket catch for the second out.
Pinch-hitter Joc Pederson grounded out to shortstop, ending the game.
Dodgers are down to their final three outs trailing 1-0
Top of ninth: Dodgers left-hander Tony Cingrani retired the side in order, striking out Brandon Belt and getting Brandon Crawford to fly to left and pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval to ground to short. Matt Kemp, Yasmani Grandal and Logan Forsythe are due up against Giants closer Hunter Strickland in the bottom of the ninth. Giants 1, Dodgers 0
Dodgers still not on the board after eight innings
Bottom of eighth: Giants left-hander Tony Watson, whom the Dodgers did not attempt to retain in free agency last winter, struck out Corey Seager swinging and Yasiel Puig looking to start the inning.
Enrique Hernandez drew a two-out walk, but Watson struck out Cody Bellinger swinging with a 91-mph sinking fastball. We’re on to the ninth with the Dodgers trailing 1-0.
Dodgers threaten in seventh, but fail to score
Bottom of seventh: Matt Kemp flied out to left field on reliever Cory Gearrin’s first pitch of the inning before Yasmani Grandal hit a first-pitch single to center, the Dodgers’ fourth hit of game.
Logan Forsythe hit a lazy fly ball to right for the second out, and pinch-hitter Chase Utley ripped a single to right-center field that sent Grandal to third with two outs.
Utley stole second to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. With most of the Dodger Stadium crowd on its feet and the decibel level rising, Chris Taylor took a full-count slider that was right down the middle for strike three, and the rally fizzled.
Josh Fields retires Giants in order in the eighth
Top of eighth: Dodgers reliever Josh Fields retired the side in order, getting Buster Posey to ground to third, striking out Evan Longoria and getting Hunter Pence to ground to second. The Dodgers trail 1-0 and are down to their last six outs. Former Dodgers left-hander Tony Watson will pitch the bottom of the eighth for the Giants.
Giants still lead 1-0 after top of seventh
Top of seventh: Dodgers reliever J.T. Chargois retired the side in order with some help of second baseman Enrique Hernandez, who made a nice back-hand stop of Joe Panik’s one-hop shot toward the middle and threw to first for the second out. Andrew McCutchen struck out on three pitches for the third out. Giants 1, Dodgers 0.
Giants go down quietly in top of the sixth
Top of sixth: Brandon Crawford lined a two-out single to left-center, but Clayton Kershaw got pinch-hitter Gorkys Hernandez to ground back to the mound, ending the inning. Kershaw’s pitch count hit 91, and with Josh Fields and J.T. Chargois warming in the Dodgers bullpen, the Dodgers ace might be done for the day.
Giants turn to bullpen to keep Dodgers silent
Bottom of sixth: Giants left-hander Josh Osich replaced starter Ty Blach and got two quick outs, retiring Corey Seager on a fly ball to deep center and striking out Yasiel Puig swinging. Enrique Hernandez walked on a full-count pitch in the dirt and took second on a wild pitch, but Cody Bellinger struck out swinging on 91-mph cut-fastball.
Blach gave up three hits in five scoreless innings, striking out three and walking three. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was replaced by right-hander J.T. Chargois to start the seventh.
Watch Kirk Gibson throw out the first pitch to Orel Hershiser
Giants lead, 1-0, after five innings
Bottom of fifth: A one-out walk to Yasmani Grandal and Logan Forsythe’s fielder’s-choice grounder left Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts with his first difficult decision of the season.
With the Dodgers trailing, 1-0, and two outs, does Roberts remove his ace, Clayton Kershaw, for a pinch-hitter with Kershaw’s pitch count at 81? Roberts stuck with Kershaw, who rewarded his manager’s faith by lining a sharp single to left-center field for his second hit of the day.
That put two on with two out, but the rally died when Chris Taylor grounded sharply to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who initially bobbled the ball but had plenty of time to force Kershaw at second to end the inning. Giants 1, Dodgers 0.
Joe Panik’s homer gives Giants a 1-0 lead
Top of the fifth: Joe Panik jogged about 30 feet toward first base and practically stopped. The Giants second baseman clearly thought his two-out, high fly ball down the right-field line was going foul.
Whether a breeze pushed the ball back or Panik misjudged it, the result favored San Francisco. Panik’s drive stayed fair, landing in the seats beyond the foul pole for a solo home run that gave the Giants a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers.
Andrew McCutchen followed with a double into the right-field corner, and Buster Posey walked to put two on with two outs, but Dodgers left-hander Kershaw struck out Evan Longoria. Giants 1, Dodgers 0
Ty Blach shuts down Dodgers in bottom of fourth
Bottom of fourth: Giants starter Ty Blach needed only nine pitches to retired the Dodgers in order, getting Yasiel Puig to fly to left, Enrique Hernandez to ground to third and Cody Bellinger to fly to deep center. The left-hander has thrown 60 pitches through four innings. Dodgers 0, Giants 0
Kershaw wobbles, but stops Giants in top of fourth
Top of fourth: Clayton Kershaw wobbled again but did not fall down. Buster Posey led off with a walk, capping a seven-pitch at-bat by taking a full-count pitch that was an inch or two inside. Kershaw looked skyward in frustration after the pitch, thinking he had Posey struck out.
Evan Longoria struck out swinging at a knee-high, 88-mph slider. Hunter Pence dunked a single to shallow right-center, advancing Posey to third with one out.
Kershaw barely flinched. He struck out Brandon Belt with a wicked 74-mph curve that dropped about a foot, from Belt’s knees into the dirt, and then got Brandon Crawford to fly to shallow right, with Yasiel Puig racing in to make an inning-ending catch. Dodgers 0, Giants 0.
No score through three innings
Bottom of third: The inning began with promise for the Dodgers, when Clayton Kershaw dug out a low-and-away, 74-mph curve and dumped a soft single into shallow left field.
But leadoff man Chris Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice and Corey Seager hit a sharp one-hopper right to Giants pitcher Ty Blach, who fired to shortstop Brandon Crawford to start an inning-ending double play. No score through three innings.
Game remains scoreless after two innings
Bottom of second: After Cody Bellinger led off the inning with a groundout to second, Matt Kemp drew a walk on a full-count pitch, and Yasmani Grandal lined a single to center for the Dodgers’ first hit of the season.
The rally died quickly when Logan Forsythe grounded sharply to second baseman Joe Panik, who fielded the ball cleanly and flipped to shortstop Brandon Crawford to start an inning-ending double play. Dodgers 0, Giants 0
Easy inning for Clayton Kershaw in top of third
Top of third: Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw needed only seven pitches to breeze through a one-two-three inning, getting Austin Jackson to pop out to shortstop, Joe Panik to ground out to shortstop and Andrew McCutchen to pop out to first base.
No score after top of second
TOP OF THE SECOND: The Giants threatened again, putting runners on first and third with one out, but Kershaw got Brandon Crawford to pop to third and struck out pitcher Ty Blach swinging at an 88-mph fastball to escape the jam.
New Giants third baseman Evan Longoria, acquired from Tampa Bay over the winter, popped out to second to open the inning before Hunter Pence roped a 91-mph fastball into the left-field corner for a double.
Left-handed-hitting Brandon Belt, who entered with three hits in 51 career at-bats against Kershaw, looped a single to right field that bounced just in front of Yasiel Puig, forcing Pence to stop at third. Dodgers 0, Giants 0
Dodgers, Giants scoreless after one inning
Bottom of the first: Giants starter Ty Blach didn’t throw a pitch faster than 91 mph, but his location was spot-on to the first two batters, the left-hander striking out Chris Taylor looking at a full-count, up-and-in fastball and Corey Seager looking at a 1-and-0, low-and-away fastball.
Yasiel Puig walked and stole second on a 3-0 pitch to Enrique Hernandez, who grounded out to third to end the inning. Blach threw 25 pitches in the inning.
The Dodgers would do well to get to the Giants bullpen early, because San Francisco is without closer Mark Melancon, who was placed on the disabled list earlier Thursday because of an elbow injury.
Take a look at the Dodgers’ new scoreboard layout
It’s time for Dodger baseball
Giants don’t score in first inning
Top of first: In what seemed like a nod to the 30-year anniversary of the Dodgers’ last World Series championship, Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch of the game against the Giants was an 88-mph fastball, taken for a strike by Austin Jackson.
Four pitches later, Jackson lined a single to left field, and Joe Panik followed with a single to right, putting runners on first and second with no outs. But Kershaw escaped the jam by getting Andrew McCutchen to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and striking out cleanup batter Buster Posey swinging at an 89-mph slider. Dodgers 0, Giants 0
Hats off to Dodgers fans on opening day
Video: Times columnists weigh in on Dodgers opening day and the 2018 season
Los Angeles Times sports columnists Andy McCullough and Bill Plaschke discuss Dodgers opening day and their big predictions for the 2018 season.
That’s a big flag
Alone with his thoughts
Clayton Kershaw on opening day? That’s no surprise
Three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw will make his eighth consecutive opening-day start for the Dodgers on Thursday. The left-hander has posted a 5-0 record and 0.99 ERA (five earned runs in 45 2/3 innings), the second-lowest ERA in a minimum of five opening-day starts since 1920.
Rick Mahler had an 0.92 ERA in five opening-day starts. Right behind Kershaw is Hall of Fame right-hander Bob Feller, who had a 1.21 ERA on opening day.
Kershaw’s eight opening-day starts are now the most all-time in franchise history, one more than Don Sutton, who started seven consecutive season-openers from 1972 to 1978, and Don Drysdale.
Kershaw is 22-9 with a 1.60 ERA in 41 career games against the Giants, allowing 53 earned runs in 297 1/3 innings and holding hitters to a .192 average, .226 on-base percentage and .270 slugging percentage, striking out 307 and walking 44.
According to Stats LLC, Kershaw’s ERA against San Francisco is the second-lowest among National League pitchers in the live-ball era (since 1920) against any opponent with a minimum 20 starts.
The leader is in attendance in Dodger Stadium for Thursday’s game and is one of Kershaw’s biggest fans: Sandy Koufax, who posted a career 1.44 ERA against the Mets.
Connie Zarate and Noemi Luis don’t want to think about how last season ended
Connie Zarate and her friend Noemi Luis were among the first fans through the gates on Thursday afternoon for opening day.
The two friends, both from Inglewood, came full of hope.
“It’s a new season,” Luis said. “It’s a clean slate.”
She watched a few clips Wednesday night of that miserable Game 7 but tried to forget that pain on Thursday. After that loss, she said, “I cried. I cried for a couple of weeks.”
The night the Dodgers beat the Cubs in the National League Championship Series to advance to the World Series last fall, Zarate and Luis — who had been watching the game in pajamas — cleaned up and rushed out the door to a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Torrance to buy World Series hats and T-shirts. It was around 2 a.m. when they got there, and they thought they’d be the only ones crazy enough to do that. The store was packed.
They bought their World Series gear. They do wear it. But not today. No way. They don’t want to think about that disappointing end.
“I was mad. I was angry. I was sad. All the emotions,” Zarate said of the Game 7 loss. “You can’t get over it.”
These three guys look very familiar
Giants put closer Mark Melancon on the disabled list
The San Francisco Giants, who lost their top two starting pitchers — Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardzija — to injuries this spring, will open the season without their closer.
Mark Melancon, a four-time All-Star with a 2.72 ERA and 179 saves in nine major league seasons, was placed on the disabled list because of a right-elbow flexor strain just hours before Thursday’s season opener in Dodger Stadium.
Manager Bruce Bochy said right-hander Hunter Strickland, who did not allow a run in 7 1/3 spring innings, will serve as closer with Sam Dyson, left-hander Tony Watson, a former Dodger, and Cory Gearrin slotting into setup roles.
“He’s throwing the ball as well as anybody … but he’s gonna need some help,” Bochy said of Strickland. “We’re trying to keep these roles as defined as we can. We could use him in the eighth inning to get an out.”
Melancon, who signed a four-year, $62-million deal before 2017, underwent surgery on his forearm in September, ending an injury-marred season in which he went 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 11 saves in 30 innings.
The right-hander felt occasional discomfort in his arm this spring, and he didn’t make back-to-back appearances until the final two days of camp.
“I’m hoping he’ll be back within a couple of weeks.” Bochy said. “I think that’s realistic, but until he starts throwing, it’s kind of a hard one to answer.”
For these fans, Dodgers opener is a welcome distraction from lymphoma
As fans streamed into the Reserve level above left field, a quartet of men in blue Dodgers hats — playing a tuba, clarinet, trumpet and banjo — played chipper tunes and, of course, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
Marlene Uva, 68, smiled at them and looked around at the gleeful crowd in their jerseys and blue T-shirts and World Series hats on this sunny afternoon.
“It’s like the Kentucky Derby of baseball,” she said. “Everyone’s all dressed up.”
Uva and her husband, Jim Christianson, 71, drove down from their home in Nipomo, Calif., for Jim’s weekly visit to a Los Angeles hospital where he’s undergoing a clinical trial for lymphoma.
It’s a three-hour drive, she said, so they might as well get something fun out of it — so they have season tickets on the reserve level.
The retired couple were decked out, she in a Clayton Kershaw T-shirt, he wearing a lanyard covered in Dodgers pins.
“We’re going to win this year,” Marlene said of the team’s World Series hopes. “It’s not, ‘We think.’ We know.”
The couple came to the Dodgers’ spring training game against the Angels on Tuesday night when a sewage leak cut the game short.
“We came for the sewage spill,” Jim said.
“It smelled like cat urine,” Marlene added with a laugh. “It was foaming out of the ground.” She said she checked her clothing, thinking, “Did the cat spray on my clothes?”
Husband and wife are longtime fans. Jim’s dad brought him to his first game as a child at the Los Angeles Coliseum. All he remembers is that they lost to the Cincinnati Reds.
The couple attended every World Series game. Before one, they were at the hospital, decked out in Dodger clothing, and Jim was waiting for an infusion. He kept an eye on the time, and told the hospital staff they were cutting it too close to game time.
“I told them, ‘It isn’t going to happen today. I’ve got these tickets!’”
“They understood,” Marlene said. “We were the old people in the Dodgers gear. They know us.”
The night the Dodgers lost Game 7, Marlene was screaming about pitcher Yu Darvish: “Take him out!”
She wished they’d started Kershaw. She was glad to see him today.
The couple have faith in the team this year. But, Jim admitted, the loss is still in the back of his mind. It’s hard to get over.
Are they emotionally ready for another season?
“I don’t know if I am,” Marlene said, laughing.
Andy Ashby was not attracted to the right word on this day
Being in Dodger Stadium for opening day always brings back the memory of what may be the best malaprop I’ve heard in three decades of covering baseball.
It was 2002, my first year on the Dodgers beat after covering the Angels for seven years, and the Dodgers, despite the efforts of a scrappy new leadoff hitter named Dave Roberts, lost to the San Francisco Giants, 9-2.
Dodgers ace Kevin Brown was rocked for five runs and five hits in the second inning, including a three-run, opposite-field home run by Barry Bonds that traveled halfway up the left-field pavilion.
As we waited in the clubhouse to speak to Brown, who could be ornery with reporters, we made small talk with Dodgers pitcher Andy Ashby, who downplayed Brown’s struggles and urged us not to make too big a deal of his rocky start.
“Hey, it’s opening day,” Ashby said. “Everything is magnetized.”
Randy and Andrea Marino are ready for a new season
Andrea and Randy Marino of Pico Rivera would rather be nowhere else than opening day at Dodger Stadium — even after last year’s soul-crushing loss in Game 7 of the World Series.
In a nod to the Christian Holy Week, Andrea wore a Dodger blue T-shirt with a cross and Jesus’ crown of thorns and the words, “God First, Family Second, Then Dodgers Baseball.”
The married couple grabbed chili replenish and carne asada burritos in Pico Rivera and rushed to Dodger Stadium, chowing down as they sat in the queue of cars to be some of the first people into the parking lot.
Andrea came prepared to have a good time, carrying sandwich baggies of sliced limes and Tajin seasoning for her Dos Equis beer.
“There wasn’t any question we’d be back for more,” she said. “We’re still excited. There’s nothing like opening day, especially in Los Angeles.”
The couple were at Game 6 of the World Series, celebrating Andrea’s 31st birthday. They’re still paying off the expensive tickets, and, despite the eventual outcome of the series, say it was worth it.
What a hope it was after that winning Game 6, Andrea said. She keeps a video on her phone of herself screaming and dancing with joy and waving her rally towel at that game.
Her family watched Game 7 at her house. Her sister — a huge Dodgers fan — was nine months pregnant.
“We thought my niece would be born during Game 7,” she said. “We thought the stress would put my sister into labor.”
Luckily, the baby girl came three days later.
Andrea, meanwhile, hid her face behind a pillow for most of that disastrous game. They shut it off before they had to watch the Astros celebrating at Dodger Stadium.
She didn’t cry though — “there’s no crying in baseball,” she said — but just felt sad.
She has no regrets, though.
“It was such a spectacular season, you would think losing would put a bad taste in your mouth, but it didn’t. The season was a celebration.”
Both Andrea and Randy are longtime fans. Randy’s dad brought him to games as a child. Andrea would watch them on TV with her grandma when she babysat.
Andrea and Randy bought opening day pins on Thursday. They believe, as Dodgers fans do every year, that this year could be THE year.
“It’s already written in the stars,” Andrea said.
Randy, asked if he had moved on past last year, smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m over it,” he said.
They are on pins and ... well, more pins
The Dodgers’ opening day lineup
Fans are hungry for victory
It’s time for some opening day music
Dodgers send Andrew Toles to the minors
In one of the final moves in constructing their opening-day roster, the Dodgers optioned outfielder Andrew Toles to triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, clearing a path for outfielder Joc Pederson and utility man Kyle Farmer to occupy the last two spots on the bench.
Toles outperformed Pederson during spring training, but will still open the season in the minors. Toles sat out the majority of the 2017 season after tearing a knee ligament, and some team officials believed he could benefit from playing every day in the minors.
Dodgers ‘confident’ in field condition after sewage incident; fans offered discounts to Marlins series
The Dodgers expect to play their season opener as scheduled Thursday after fixing the plumbing problem that resulted in an on-field flood Tuesday.
The team said “issues with the drainage system at Dodger Stadium” had triggered the flooding. A team statement did not specify the issues but said they had been repaired and that officials were “confident that there will be no further issues.”
The 25 greatest Dodgers of all time, No. 1: Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax was the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards (1963, ’65 and ’66), as well as the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award by a unanimous vote (1963, when he went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA). He also was the first to throw four no-hitters.
In fact, many people will tell you that the greatest pitcher in baseball history was Sandy Koufax on four days’ rest. Second greatest? Sandy Koufax on three days’ rest.
Vin Scully comes out of retirement, for 60 seconds
The commercial opens with an old man talking on a land line, the cord extending from the telephone on the desk to the man in the chair. The desk and chair are ordinary, but the voice is extraordinary.
“I think it’s a great idea, Commissioner,” Vin Scully says to start the commercial. “I mean, it used to be opening day, not opening days.”
For one minute — technically, one 60-second ad — the best baseball broadcaster in history came out of retirement.
Time for the Dodgers to walk the walk, not just talk the talk
The Dodgers have spread the gospel of baseball more than any other franchise, providing platforms for the likes of Jackie Robinson, Fernando Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo and Chan Ho Park. They have established the standard for pitching with rotations that have included stars such as Sandy Koufax and Clayton Kershaw.
What they haven’t done much is win.
Games, sure, they have won plenty of those. Championships are another story.
As much as their fans associate them with October glory, the actual history of the Dodgers is a story of underachievement, especially in the last half-century.