On April 4, 2016, the Los Angeles Dodgers traveled south to take on the San Diego Padres on Opening Day and came away with a record-setting 15-0 win at Petco Park. It was the biggest Opening Day shutout in MLB history, besting 14-0 win by the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Cincinnati Reds in 1911.
The Dodgers’ win also set a National League record for largest margin of victory of Opening Day. What was especially impressive about the performance is that the Dodgers slugged out 17 hits, but not a single one left the ballpark.
The scoring got started in the top of the first inning when Chase Utley doubled to lead off the game and then quickly scored on another double by Corey Seager. He then later scored on a single off the bat of Adrian Gonzalez.
Gonzalez drove in another run in the third inning on his second single of the game, scoring Justin Turner, who doubled.
While the Dodgers scored 15 runs in the game, most of them didn’t come until the later innings as they brought home five in the sixth, three in the seventh and four in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
The scoring in the sixth consisted of an RBI double by Joc Pederson, two-run single by A.J. Ellis, a run-scoring single by Utley and sacrifice fly by Seager. Utley brought home two more in the seventh on a single while Trayce Thompson also did his part with a pinch-hit RBI double.
Yasiel Puig finally got in on the action in the eighth, hitting a triple to right-center field to bring home two more runs.
On the mound, Clayton Kershaw got the start and turned in a fantastic Opening Day performance, which is normally the case. Kershaw tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit while striking out nine and walking one on 96 pitches. He also went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
Kershaw has been brilliant in all eight of his Opening Day starts to date, going 5-1 with a 1.05 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 51.2 innings pitched. At the time, he improved to 4-0 in his season-openers.
The game was also notable in that it was the first for respective managers Dave Roberts and Andy Green.
Dodgers Opening Day home runs record
The Dodgers breaking a record on Opening Day was also the case in 2019. They slugged eight home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks to set an Opening Day record and tie a franchise all-time mark for any game.
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