LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have won their last seven opening days. Clayton Kershaw has started their last seven opening days. This is not a coincidence.
Joe Torre threw a curveball — or was it an eephus pitch? — and chose Vicente Padilla to start the 2010 opener, which makes for a fun pair of trivial notes given Kershaw’s dominance since and for the fact that Padilla made as many opening day starts as a Dodger as did Sandy Koufax.
| Pitcher | Starts | IP | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | Starts | IP | ERA |
| Rick Mahler | 5 | 39 | 0. |