Dodgers Dugout: Dodgers on pace to go undefeated this season

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell and I am already camping out on the Dodgers World Series parade route in downtown L.A.

Great start

Wow, now that is how you start a season. The Dodgers are 3-0 and have not allowed a run this season after sweeping the San Diego Padres by scores of 15-0, 3-0 and 7-0. I haven’t looked it up yet, but I’m pretty sure if they go all 162 games without allowing a run, it will be a record.

The Padres become the first team in modern baseball history to be shut out their first three games, and the Dodgers are the first team to start their season with three consecutive shutouts since the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers gave up only 11 hits in those games.

The highlight of the sweep? Kenta Maeda’s home run, which you can watch here.  Watch the reaction by his teammates when he hits the homer, and when he comes into the dugout. That is the reaction of a team that genuinely likes a person.

Yasiel Puig, one of the keys to the Dodgers making the playoffs this season, went 6 for 10 with two triples and a homer in the three games. Adrian Gonzalez went 4 for 10, Corey Seager went 5 for 14 with two doubles. Heck, even Carl Crawford is hitting .300. The bullpen gave up four hits in eight innings, striking out 10 and walking one.

The only caveat to all of this is the fact they were playing the Padres, who are a horrible team. How bad are they? Tuesday was “Take Your Child to Work Day” at Petco Park. For fun, the Padres played a quick exhibition game against the children. The Padres lost, 9-0.

Up next for the Dodgers are the San Francisco Giants, who are 2-1.

Getting close

The Dodgers’ magic number for clinching the NL West is down to 159.

Television

First, I want to apologize to all of you for saying the Dodgers would be on ESPN on Monday. I called ESPN on Sunday and a representative told me that the game would be on in L.A. That person was either mistaken, or ESPN changed its mind and decided not to show the game locally. ESPN has the ability to lift the blackout for 10 games, and they decided they wouldn’t make the season opener one of their 10. You can read more about it here.

In March, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said: "The Dodgers' massive fan base deserves to be able to watch Dodger games regardless of their choice of provider.” What better way to show that he cares about Dodgers fans than by petitioning ESPN to show the opener in L.A. I’m sure if he had asked, officials of the cable outlet would have said OK. Instead, we can just add one more name to the list of people who talk about how much they care about Dodgers fans not being able to watch the team on TV, but don’t do anything about it.

The Vin Scully call of the week

“                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                            ”

I can’t watch the Dodgers where I live, so I have no idea what his best call was.

However, if you would like to complain about the Dodgers’ horrible TV situation, here’s who to contact:

For the Dodgers, click here or call (866) DODGERS (866-363-4377)

For Time Warner, click here.

For your local cable or satellite provider, consult your bill for the customer service number and for the website.

Ask Ross Porter

Former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter will be answering select reader questions for the rest of the season. Email me a question for Ross, and I will pass it on. His latest response:

Jack asks: I get the idea from watching ESPN, Ross, that their experts are not that smitten with the Dodgers this season. Have you noticed that?

Ross: The only indication of that being true, Jack, is what 31 of them predicted before the season. Not one from ESPN expects the Dodgers to win the World Series or the National League pennant. Only four believe they will capture their division----Tristan Cockcroft, Andrew Marchand, Mark Simon and Dan Szymborski. Adrian Virk thinks the Dodgers will be the first wild card while Tony Blengino, Christina Kahri, Doug Padilla, and Jon Sciambi see them as the second wild card.

Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager of the Dodgers fare much better in the ESPN poll of those 31 reporters. Kershaw drew 13 votes for the Cy Young Award while Max Scherzer was next with six. Seager was a runaway winner in the Rookie of the Year speculation, garnering 23 votes. Kershaw even got an MVP nod from Blengino.

And finally

Times columnist Chris Erskine takes a look at the new Ken Burns documentary on Jackie Robinson. Read all about it here.

Have a comment or something you'd like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston