SAN DIEGO >> Prior to his first game as the Dodgers’ manager, Dave Roberts reserved 13 tickets for friends and family to attend Opening Day at Petco Park. Roberts grew up in north San Diego County, so a gambling man might have taken the over on Roberts’ traveling contingent.
Thirteen is a lucky number in some circles, but other than avoiding the white chalk foul lines whenever he steps on the field, Roberts insisted Monday that he is not a superstitious man.
Whatever he did, whatever he said, it worked. The Dodgers beat the Padres 15-0 in their first game of the season u2011 the largest margin of victory in an Opening Day shutout by any team since at least 1913, and the most runs the Dodgers have scored on Opening Day since 1983, when they beat the Houston Astros 16-7.