Opening day in the National League West saw four of the five divisional teams facing off against each other. The only team to play outside of the division were the Colorado Rockies who ventured to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee Brewers.
Colorado Rockies 10 Milwaukee Brewers 0
(Source: Mike McGinnis/Getty Images North America)
The Colorado Rockies (1-0), who finished the 2014 campaign in fourth place at 66-96, got off to the fast start they were hoping for against the Milwaukee Brewers (0-1) at Miller Park on Monday afternoon. Behind an offensive onslaught powered by Nolan Arenado (3-for-4, 1 hr, and 4 RBI) and Corey Dickerson (2-for-5, 1 hr and 4 RBI), the Rockies amassed 10 runs on 16 hits in their opening day victory.
The Rockies went to work right away in the first inning off of Brewers starter Kyle Lohse (0-1, 21.60). Carlos Gonzalez (2-for-4, 1 RBI), Troy Tulowitzki (3-for-5, 1 RBI), and Arenado each doubled in the inning. Dickerson followed with a homer to right to give the Rockies a 4-0 lead. The Rockies would score two more runs in the third on the two run homer by Arenado and four in the fourth as they chased Loshe from the game after just 3 1/3 innings of work.
Veteran Kyle Kendrick (1-0, 0.00) was strong in his Rockies debut as he threw six shutout innings while striking out six to get the win. Kendrick, known as a groundball pitcher, ended the Brewers to get back nto the game when he worked out of a bases loaded jam in the second with a changeup to Jean Segura (1-for-3) that induced a groundball to Arenado at third for an inning-ending double play.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R H E | |
| CO | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 16 0 |
| MIL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 8 3 |
San Diego Padres 3 Los Angeles Dodgers 6
Jimmy Rollins #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers watches his three run homerun to take a 6-3 lead over the San Diego Padres in the eighth inning during opening day at Dodger Stadium on April 6, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.
( Source: Harry How/Getty Images North America)
The defending NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers started the new season against their division rival San Diego Padres in style on Monday afternoon at Dodgers Stadium. Tied 3-3 in the eighth, newly acquired shortstop Jimmy Rollins (2-for-4, 3 RBI, 1 HR) put the Dodgers ahead for good with a three-run homer into the right field seats off of Padres reliever Shawn Kelley (0-1) who was tagged with the loss.
2014 NL MVP and Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 4.50) battled through six innings of work, giving up three runs on six hits. Kershaw, coming off a subpar performance in last year's playoffs, left the game on the losing end until Howie Kendrick (2-for-4, 1 RBI) doubled in the tying run in the seventh.
Joel Peralta (1-0, 0.00) picked up the win for the Dodgers and Chris Hatcher (S,1) earned the save.
Matt Kemp was the offense for the Padres as he returned to Dodgers Stadium for the first time since he was traded in the offseason to San Diego. Kemp went 2-for-4 with an RBI single in the first and a two run double in the fifth that gave the Padres a 3-2 lead. Kemp drove in all three runs off of Kershaw.
James Shields (0-0, 3.00), one of the Padres big splashes in free agency this past offseason, made the start and pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R H E | |
| SD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 7 1 |
| LAD | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | x | 6 9 0 |
San Francisco Giants 5 Arizona Diamondbacks 4
San Francisco Giants starter and World Series hero Madison Bumgarner (1-0, 1.29) picked up right where he left off last October- dominating. Bumgarner gave up just a run on six hits in seven innings of work in the 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Giants broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth with a four run explosion off of Diamondbacks starter Josh Collmenter (0-1, 9.64) and reliever Andrew Chafin. Angel Pagan (3-for-4, 2 RBI) doubled to right to drive in a run. Buster Posey (0-for-4, 1 RBI) followed with an RBI sac fly and Brandon Crawford (2-for-4, 2 RBI) ended the scoring with a two-run double.
With Bumgarner finally out of the game the Diamonbacks bats came to life in the eighth. Pinch hitting in the inning, Brandon Lamb (1-for-1, 3 RBI) stroked a bases clearing double to plate three runs. That would be all the Diamondbacks would muster as Santiago Casilla (S, 1) would set them down in order in the ninth to preserve the victory for the Giants.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R H E | |
| SF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 13 0 |
| ARI | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 9 1 |
Top Performers
Batting: Nolan Arenado (CO) 3-for-4, 1 HR, 4 RBI.
Pitching: Kyle Kendrick (CO) 6 IP, 0 R, 7 H, 6 K, 0 W.
| W L PCT. GB | Home Road | RS RA Diff | STRK L10 | |
| Colorado | 1 0 1.000 - | 0-0 1-0 | 10 0 +10 | W1 1-0 |
| LA Dodgers | 1 0 1.000 - | 1-0 0-0 | 6 3 +3 | W1 1-0 |
| San Francisco | 1 0 1.000 - | 0-0 1-0 | 5 4 +1 | W1 1-0 |
| Arizona | 0 1 .000 1 | 0-1 0-0 | 4 5 -1 | L1 0-1 |
| San Diego | 0 1 .000 1 | 0-0 1-0 | 3 6 -3 | L1 0-1 |