That was definitely ugly, and hopefully there won't be many games like today. And it's probably a good thing it was only the first game of 162. Final score: Pirates 11, Dodgers 5.
But after watching today's game, several things became clear to me. One, it's going to be a long season pitching-wise. Vicente Padilla seemed to be pitching from behind all afternoon. He pitched himself into a mess that resulted in a bases-clearing double by Ryan Church off Ramon Ortiz, who replaced Padilla during a five-run Pirate fifth. George Sherrill didn't look very sharp either, as he failed to keep the game within reach and failed to get out of the eighth, giving up three runs in the process.
The offense appears like it's going to be just fine. The lineup is well-balanced. They pounded out 11 hits today as Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt all had multiple hits today. Both Manny and Kemp each had two RBI today, as well.
They're not going to get the big hit every time but if today was any indication, they won't go down without a fight. They won't go down until the final out is recorded, which has been very indicative of this team for the past two seasons.
And lastly, Blake DeWitt looks like he's still not very comfortable at second base. He didn't commit any errors, but on one pop fly over his head, he appeared to get turned around and looked rather confused in doing so. That tells me he's still not very comfortable out there. I suppose it's a good thing the kid can hit, and the fact there are two pretty solid guys to back him up defensively in Ronnie Belliard and Jamey Carroll.
Day off tomorrow. Right back at it on Wednesday night.
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