Dodger drop both Cactus League openers

Probably not the start Donnie Baseball had hoped for in his debut as Dodger manager, as the team lost both of their spring openers 8-3 to the team from up North, and 4-1 to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California by way of Orange County. Am I the only one who still finds it odd that the Angels pay no L.A. City our County taxes yet are afforded the right to use the Los Angeles name as if it were their own? California, Anaheim, L.A., just make up your mind already Angels. My thoughts wander, on to today’s action.

Several recaps of today’s action can be found on our partner sites, such as True Blue LA, a great Dodger blog. Highlights were few and far between for both Dodger squads. Hiroki Kuroda was sharp in his 2 innings of work allowing only 1 hit while striking out 1. Lasorda’s Lair favorite Rubby De La Rosa had an auspicious beginning to his 1st big league camp, he needed only 9 pitches to record 6 outs, however his other 3 pitches were a ball, a single and a 2 run HR by Angels 1B prospect Mark Trumbo. Obviously scouts had told Angels hitters to swing early in the count against the fireballing Rubby. Still an odd outing numbers wise for Rubby. About the only highlight offensively was Matt Kemp’s single, SB and run scored in his 1st at bat. Good to see the work with Davey Lopes paying off for Kemp on the basepaths. The Dodgers were held to 3 hits total by 6 Angels pitchers and the official Boxscore can be found here.

The Dodgers other split squad was in Scottsdale facing their NL West Division rivals who reside to the North. Lasorda’s Lair Twitter favorite Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times provides a brief recap. The Dodgers actually led 1-0 after a Gabe Kapler single scored Marcus Thames, but the lead was short lived as Carlos Monasterios and Oscar Villarreal combined to give up 8 runs over the next 2 frames. The highlight of the day for Dodger fans was provided by rookie prospect Dee Gordon. Who not only singled in his first at-bat, but turned a sick double play later in the game, on a ball up the middle that Gordon ranged far to his left to grab, only to see it take a bad hop. No worries as Gordon bare-handed the ball stepped on 2nd and threw to 1st to complete the defensive gem. And who said the kid’s biggest liability was his defense? The official Boxscore can be found here

The Dodgers face off tomorrow at Camelback Ranch against the Orange County California Angels who reside in Anaheim but claim to be from Los Angeles.  The game can be found on Fox Sports Prime Ticket channel 694 for those of you with Directv. Oh how I long to hear Vin Scully utter for the first time “It’s time for Dodger Baseball” actually I have no idea if Vin will even be calling the game more likely it will be Charley Steiner.