The Los Angeles Dodgers and first-year manager Dave Roberts could do no wrong through the first three games of the season. Sure, some wondered why Roberts removed Scott Kazmir after only throwing 75 pitches over six scoreless innings, three shutout innings from the bullpen validated it.
Los Angeles swept the Padres at Petco Park, and joined the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams in Major League Baseball history to record three consecutive shutouts to start a season. What’s more, the Dodgers left the Padres with their longest scoreless streak (27 innings) to begin a season.
The Dodgers’ went on to set a franchise record with 31 consecutive scoreless innings at the outset of a season, falling one inning shy of tying the ’63 Cardinals.
Alex Wood was on the mound when the San Francisco Giants snapped the Dodgers’ streak during the fifth inning of the 2016 opener at AT&T Park. San Francisco went on to win Thursday’s game, and took three of four from the Dodgers.
Each game of the series was competitive, with the clubs trading punches, as you’d expect from long-time rivals. Despite his team coming up short and blowing multiple leads throughout the four-game set, Roberts is generally pleased after the first week of the season, according to ESPN’s Doug Padilla:
“One week in, we’re 4-3, we’re in a good place and the clubhouse, the guys have a good frame of mind,” Roberts said. “Actually, I feel pretty good.”
The Dodgers scored first in three of the four games played against the Giants. However, their three losses in the series came in said games. Los Angeles forced a tie in the ninth inning on Saturday, catching a break as Kelby Tomlinson couldn’t start a game-ending double play on a routine grounder.
Charlie Culberson’s go-ahead double in the 10th inning proved to the difference. Had Tomlinson handled the ground ball, the Dodgers are swept, their bullpen likely faces more criticism, and Roberts’ decisions are further analyzed. Of course the flip side to that is, the Dodgers just as easily could have swept their rival.
Los Angeles has Monday off, then play their Dodger Stadium opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday; neither Clayton Kershaw nor Zack Greinke will pitch in the three-game series. The Dodgers and Giants then begin a three-game set on Friday.
