Steve Webb
“It wasn’t great.” That was Clayton Kershaw‘s postgame assessment of his performance after the Dodgers dropped the season opener to the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Thursday afternoon. But he could have been talking about the whole messy afternoon. The Dodgers were not great on the mound, not great in the field, and most importantly, not great at taking advantage of opportunities. It was just one of those days at the office. Unfortunately, it was on Opening Day of the 2021 season.
The signs that things weren’t going to go the Dodgers’ way were pretty clear in the visitors’ half of the third inning. In one of the weirdest plays of any season, Cody Bellinger had a home run called back. Not because it wasn’t a home run. It had clearly popped out of left fielder Raimel Tapia’s glove and over the fence. Nope. Bellinger’s homer was called back because he accidentally passed Justin Turner on the bases. Turner, who had been on first, was busy beating a hasty retreat back to the bag and didn’t notice what had transpired in left field. Bellinger was credited with a single, and then called out for the baserunning gaffe.
Sad Trombone.
Then among the other highlights of ineptitude today were Corey Seager totally whiffing on a routine ground ball and Jimmy Nelson uncorking two wild pitches that resulted in Rockies’ runs. But even these miscues would have been overcome-able (if that is an actual word) if the Dodgers had simple cashed in any of the herd of baserunners that were all stranded on the paths. Yes, they got fifteen hits, but somehow they managed to hit a pathetic 3 for 16 with runners on base, stranding enough runners fill a couple of mini-vans (14).
More sad trombone.
And it wasn’t that the Rockies were knocking the ball around the yard at Coors Field either. They got just two extra base hits, but nine singles, most of which were ground balls through the infield defense. The hitting star of the day for Colorado ended up being second baseman Chris Owings, who went 3-3 with a triple and an RBI. In the end, Kershaw was charged with five earned runs over 5.2 innings. The lone highlight in Kersh’s day was probably the two singles he managed to sneak through the infield in his three at bats.
But as they say, he isn’t paid to hit. And his day as a pitcher was less than fantastic. But it wasn’t that bad, considering his lousy Spring Training. Hopefully, he can shrug it off to a Coors Field kind of day, and get right back at it in his next start.
All the futility came to a perfect close with the ninth inning when the Dodgers were able to load the bases with just one out. But Matt Beaty (for some unknown reason pinch hitting for Zach McKinstry) watched three straight strikes go by. Then, Mookie Betts found himself in an 0-2 hole, and was able to fight off some pitches, but eventually lined weakly to second base. The end. No joy in Dodgerville tonight.
It wasn’t great.
