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Newcomers help Dodgers to Opening Day victory

April 6, 2015

Fans cheer during Opening Day ceremonies, that includes members of the U.S. military holding a flag in the shape of the United States, before the San Diego Padres face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Monday, April 6, 2015. (Park Sang-hyuk / The Korea Times)

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Jimmy Rollins hit a tie-breaking three-run home run in the eighth inning in his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 6-3 opening day victory over the San Diego Padres at a sold-out Dodger Stadium today.

Rollins was acquired in a three-player trade with Philadelphia in December after spending the first 15 seasons of his major league career with the Phillies. He was among four players acquired in the off-season to contribute to the victory before a crowd announced at 53,518.

Howie Kendrick, acquired from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in December, doubled in Adrian Gonzalez to tie the score with two outs in the seventh.

Joel Peralta, acquired in a four-player trade with the Tampa Bay Rays in November, pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory.

Chris Hatcher, acquired in a seven-player trade with the Miami Marlins in December, pitched a hitless ninth for his first major league save, striking out Alexi Amarista for the final out.

Shawn Kelley, the fourth San Diego pitcher, was charged with the loss.

Matt Kemp drove in all three Padre runs in his first game since being traded by the Dodgers. Kemp singled in Wil Myers, who was hit by Clayton Kershaw’s 0-2 pitch, in the first and doubled in two runs in the fifth.

The Dodgers had taken a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Gonzalez led off with a homer. Kendrick followed with a triple and scored on a Carl Crawford double.

Kershaw, the Dodgers starter who was the 2014 National League MVP and Cy Young Award winner, was lifted for a pinch hitter after six innings. He allowed three runs, all earned, and six hits, striking out nine and walking two.

Dodger Cy Young Award winners Eric Gagne, Don Newcombe and Fernando Valenzuela threw the ceremonial first pitch. The rhythm and blues singer Tinashe, who attended Crescenta Valley High School and had a recurring role on the CBS comedy “Two and a Half Men,” sang the national anthem.

Representatives of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force presented the colors. Members of the U.S. armed forces unfurled a giant flag in center field, a display in the shape of the United States. A flyover was conducted by two Boeing Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets.

Efforts were made before and during the game to prevent tailgating and unruly behavior. Los Angeles Police Department officers patrolled the area to enforce the no-tolerance policy for drinking in public or in parks. The LAPD and Dodger organization also worked to remind the public that tailgating is prohibited in the Dodger Stadium parking lots.

Parking was prohibited on Avenue of the Palms (Stadium Way) between Scott Road and Academy Road from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. and limited to two hours on several other streets.

Portable toilets, hand-washing stations and additional garbage bins, funded by the Office of Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, were placed “in the area in an effort to maintain quality of life in the neighborhood on opening day,” O’Farrell said.

“Last year, I heard loud and clear that tailgaters had occupied the neighborhood as early as 7 a.m. and that any and all spaces were taken until the end of the game,” said O’Farrell, whose district includes a portion of the neighborhood surrounding Dodger Stadium, but not the stadium itself or the area closest to it. That area is represented by Councilman Gilbert Cedillo.

“While I can appreciate that the City of Angels is a baseball town and that there is a decades-long tradition of celebrating this annual springtime event, I want to make sure my constituents do not suffer the consequences of a few unruly fans.”