Opening Series: Game 2

Opening Series Game 2 vs. SF Giants
7:10 pm Dodger Stadium


After last night's victorious win over the despised Giants, I'm still a bit giddy. There were a lot of positive things that I saw, and of course a few concerns. Clayton Kershaw was just as good as you can get, and totally blew away the opposition from right out of the gates. Hey Ned, can we please lock down Kersh with a long-term deal now? I want to see him in Dodger blue for like 50 years please.

The aggressiveness at the plate and on the base path really looked good. Wow we have you know like coaches who are dynamic and positive instead of last season's let's yell at our players when they make a mistake because we never worked on the issues at hand? Hmmm... I wonder what works better? I liked it. Congrats to Donnie for his first win. Kemp got his first stolen base of the season and walked three times, and other than Uribe's mistake of over sliding of 2nd base, there were no TOOTBLANS to be seen. We got some hits, even some extra base hits, and Furcal's 1st inning error was the only big defensive faux pas.

Once Brox came into pitch the 9th inning I admittedly was hella nervous. Don't get me wrong, I like Broxton. I still think he's a good pitcher, and I feel Torre overworked him last season causing his downward spiral in the second half. The last thing I wanted to see was a 2011 meltdown on Opening Day. Phew. He got the save.

Now we need to stick to those so-called World Champions again in game 2 in order to show them we mean business this season in the NL West.

Chad Billingsley will go against Jonathan Sanchez Friday evening. In Sanchez's last outing against the Dodgers he picked up his first career win against the Dodgers on September 5th last year. He struck out 9 batters, allowing only 3 hits in 7 innings. In Cactus League play, Sanchez finished with a 2.70 ERA. Bills is also feeling confident after he inked a 3 year contract extension with the Dodgers on Tuesday including an option for a 4th year. I was very pleased with this deal since I really like Billingsley. Although he had some troubles, it looks like he has gained back his form and is ready to continue what Kershaw has begun this season. Bills plays well against the Giants with a 6-3 record in 20 games and a 2.63 ERA against them.

*Updated* Lineup:

Furcal 6
De Jesus 4
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Thames 7
Loney 3
Barajas 2
Miles 5
Billingsley 1

Mattingly has changed up the lineup a bit for tonight's game by starting De Jesus at second base and Thames in left field. I'm a little hesitant to be confident about De Jesus at second after his disastrous error in the final game of Spring Training. Jamey Carroll is playing with a sore finger.

*Update* Uribe is sore after being hit in the elbow, so Miles will get the start at third base.

In disappointing news, a Giants fan was critically assaulted in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the game last night. We all get into the Dodger-Giants rivalry, but there's no excuse for violence. Dodger Stadium should be a safe place to enjoy the game we love so much.

Stay tuned for the game recap, and GO BLUE:)