After Clayton Kershaw’s dominant Opening Day start against the San Diego Padres, all eyes turned to offseason acquisition Scott Kazmir and how the No. 2 starter would possibly follow suit. Not only did the southpaw carry the torch from Kershaw, Kazmir exceeded expectations as he kept Padres hitters guessing throughout the night.
While making his Dodgers debut, Kazmir managed to toss six scoreless innings, allowing just one single hit — an infield single in the first inning — while striking out five. The 32 year old relied on fastball command and a steady dose of off-speed pitches as he eased some of the concern that stemmed from a rough Spring Training.
Kazmir and James Shields matched one another’s efforts through the first three innings, keeping the game locked in a scoreless tie. Yasiel Puig’s two-run triple in the fourth, followed by Carl Crawford’s RBI single, gave the Dodgers all the run support they’d need.
Pitching with the lead, Kazmir continued to sail through the game as he retired 17 consecutive batters until exiting after six innings of work:
Although Kazmir had only thrown 75 pitches, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned the ball over to a bullpen that didn’t get much work in the club’s blowout victory on Opening Day.
Pedro Baez, Chris Hatcher and Kenley Jansen picked up where Kazmir left off, combining for six strikeouts and allowing just one hit over the final three innings.
