Dodgers: Balloons, Kiké, 5 things we learned from opening night win

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 23: Enrique Hernandez #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run homerun off of Conner Menez #51 of the San Francisco Giants, to take an 8-1 lead during the eighth inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 23: Enrique Hernandez #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run homerun off of Conner Menez #51 of the San Francisco Giants, to take an 8-1 lead during the eighth inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Enrique Hernandez #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run homerun off of Conner Menez #51 of the San Francisco Giants, to take an 8-1 lead during the eighth inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Enrique Hernandez #14 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a two run homerun off of Conner Menez #51 of the San Francisco Giants, to take an 8-1 lead during the eighth inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

It was an entertaining opening night for the Los Angeles Dodgers.


The Los Angeles Dodgers had a bittersweet start to the 2020 season with starter Clayton Kershaw scratched from his Opening Day start due to back stiffness just before the team beat the San Francisco Giants 8-1.

It’s one game, normally out of 162, but this season it’s one game out of 60, so while it carries a bit more weight, it’s still early to draw too many conclusions from one win. However, there are some interesting things we learned.

1. A birthday balloon finds its way onto the field

In a season that will be anything but normal, we start with the strangest moment of the night. In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the Dodgers leading 6-1, a birthday balloon randomly appeared out of nowhere and floated onto the infield dirt.

The look on the face of the umpire and Giants second baseman when the balloon landed just in front of them was priceless. Dodger Stadium organist Dieter Ruehle had fun with the moment playing 99 Luftballons as the ball boy collected the heaven sent item and brought it into the clubhouse.

Without fans in attendance, it makes you wonder where this phantom balloon could have come from. If I were the Dodgers, I would get it framed and keep it in the locker room for good luck this season.

Now that we’ve gone over the strangest moment, let’s discuss the key takeaways from the Dodgers opening night win.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Dustin May #85 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Dustin May #85 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

2. Dustin May fills in admirably for Clayton Kershaw

What a 24-hour span for top pitching prospect Dustin May. As Clayton Kershaw prepared for his ninth Opening Day start, he experienced back stiffness after working out in the gym on Tuesday. This put May on alert that he could have to fill in for the future Hall-of-Famer, but before he got official word he was optioned to the team’s alternate workout site.

As Dodger fans reacted to the news that May was likely going to be left off the Opening Day roster, Kershaw was informing the Dodgers that he wasn’t comfortable enough to make his first start.

Suddenly, May was being called back up to become the first Dodger rookie to pitch on Opening Day since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Imagine that!

Pitching in front of cardboard cutouts, May was poised from the beginning, throwing 100 MPH gas in the early going.

“He wasn’t nervous or intimidated by the amount of cardboard we had in the stands tonight,” Dodger teammate and fellow hero of the night Kiké Hernández told reporters after the game.

The 22-year-old spread seven hits over 4.1 innings of work, striking out 4 while walking none, and allowing only one Giant run to score. Over 60 pitches, he threw 46 strikes, generating 8 swings-and-misses. His sinker was used 29 times with an average velocity of 97.9 MPH. He offset that with an effective curveball that he threw for a strike 7 out of 9 times.

Los Angeles Dodgers television broadcast team (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers television broadcast team (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

3. Thank goodness for Joe and Orel

It didn’t take long for ESPN to mess up opening night for Dodger fans. After waiting since last October to see the team play a real baseball game, ESPN came out of a commercial break late, causing fans to miss the first batter of the season.

Giants centerfielder Mike Yastrzemski reached on an infield error by shortstop Corey Seager. At least that’s what the box score says, because nobody other than the players and the cardboard cutouts in the stands saw it happen.

Inexplicably, the Worldwide Leader made the same mistake again in the top of the second, missing the first pitch of the inning.

And that was just the beginning of the annoying mishaps by the national broadcast.

For some reason, they decided to interrupt an entire half inning by interviewing Oakland Athletic Matt Chapman. You know, because everyone watching the Giants vs the Dodgers wants to hear from a random player on another team about their yoga routine.

Let’s just say Dodger fans will be happy to hear Joe, Orel, and Alanna on SportsNet LA on Friday. A huge takeaway from Opening Night: watching Dodger games on ESPN is insufferable.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a two run homerun from Enrique Hernandez #14 along with Joc Pederson #31, to take an 8-1 lead over the San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a two run homerun from Enrique Hernandez #14 along with Joc Pederson #31, to take an 8-1 lead over the San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

4. Kiké Hernández is ready for a big season

It came as a surprise when top prospect Gavin Lux was optioned to the team’s alternate site this week. When the Dodgers reported to Spring Training in March, it seemed like the everyday job at second base would belong to Lux.

However, after arriving late to summer camp for undisclosed reasons, it quickly became apparent that the Dodgers were considering other options to play the middle of the infield next to Corey Seager.

While Chris Taylor had an impressive camp, Hernandez looked good, too. He earned the start at second on opening night, and boy, did he took advantage of the opportunity.

Hernández went 4-5 with 5 RBIs, including a clutch opposite-field, 2-RBI base hit in the 7th inning to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. His single in the 4th inning put the Dodgers first run on the board. And he capped off the night with a home run in the 8th inning to give the Boys in Blue a commanding 8-1 lead.

Per ESPN, Hernández is the 6th Dodger batter to record 5+ RBIs on Opening Day since the stat became official in 1920, joining the likes of Raúl Mondesi and Pedro Guerrero.

This is an important season for Kiké as he will be a free agent in the winter. Obviously, he has great incentive to put up big numbers. And he is off to a great start.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides safely home before the tag of Tyler Heineman #43 of the San Francisco Giants, to take a 2-1 lead during the seventh inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 23: Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides safely home before the tag of Tyler Heineman #43 of the San Francisco Giants, to take a 2-1 lead during the seventh inning, on MLB Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on July 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

5. Mookie Betts does little things to win baseball games

It didn’t take long for Mookie Betts to make an impression on Dodger fans. No, he didn’t hit a long home run, like he did earlier in the week during an intra-squad game. But he showed the intangible things he does to make a difference.

After collecting his first hit in a Dodger uniform with one out in the 7th inning, he reached third base on a Cody Bellinger double. The score was 1-1 at the time, the Dodgers had been struggling to get their juggernaut offense going. And leave it to Betts and Bellinger to be the spark plugs. Something Dodger fans hope to be seeing for years and years to come.

With Betts at third, and the infield partially in, Justin Turner hit a ground ball to second base that was hit hard enough to make it a difficult play to score from third. But Betts did just that, using his quick first step and speed to reach home safely and put the Dodgers up 2-1.

Betts started the night making a statement for social justice by kneeling during the national anthem. He had said before that he wouldn’t take a knee out of respect for his father who served in the Vietnam War, but his viewpoint on doing so has evolved since then.

“I wasn’t educated,” Betts said when asked how his perspective has changed since September 2016 (via ESPN). “That’s my fault. I need to be educated on the situation. I know my dad served and I’ll never disrespect the flag, but there’s also gotta be change in the world, and kneeling has nothing to do with those who served our country.”

Next. Jimmy Nelson roasts ESPN coverage. dark

We also learned that manager Dave Roberts plans on batting Betts in the two-hole against right-handed starters. By doing so, he can move Muncy to the lead-off spot and then effectively alternate left-handed and right-handed batters throughout the order. It also means that Cody Bellinger will bat third instead of fourth, flip-flopping with Justin Turner.

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