Scoreless in San Diego

The San Diego Padres are bad. How bad you ask? They just kicked off their 2016 season in the worse way possible -- by being swept in shutout fashion by the rival Dodgers. This all happened in their own park no less as San Diego was outscored 25 to 0. We all knew heading into the season that the Friars were going to be bad this year, but nobody could've expected this. Making matters worse for San Diego, Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda homered in his second career at-bat, while pitching in his Major League debut. That's right, the Dodgers' pitcher has accounted for more offense than the entire Padres lineup combined.

Regardless of how much credit first-year skipper Dave Roberts deserves for his team's blazing start considering how bad the Padres are, it's one hell of a way to kick start your managerial career. L.A. became just the second team in modern-day Major League history to record three straight shutouts to open a season, joining the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals. The 27 consecutive scoreless-innings to start a season is also a Dodgers franchise-record, breaking their previous best of 23 set back in 1974. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw began the scoreless streak by hurling seven innings of 1-hit ball (no surprise there) before handing it off to the bullpen. Offseason acquisition Scott Kazmir followed suit in his National League debut by giving the Dodgers six solid innings in which he also only allowed one hit, followed by Maeda's memorable outing on both sides of the plate. With a 4-game slate against the arch-rival Giants (2-1) taking place in San Francisco starting Thursday, the Dodgers (3-0) will need five more scoreless frames to tie the Cardinals' record of 32 consecutive innings without allowing a run and six to set a new record. Pitcher Alex Wood will be asked to keep the streak alive for the Dodgers as San Francisco hopes to counter by turning to veteran hurler Jake Peavy.

As for the Padres who now own the dubious record previously held by the 1943 St. Louis Browns who went 26 innings without scoring a run to start a season, San Diego will have to sleep on it for at least another day as they've got an off day on Thursday. However, I do like their chances of scoring at least one run when they take the field again as they open a 3-game series on the road at Denver's Coors Field where a pitcher's earned run average goes to die and balls fly out of the park more so than anywhere else. But hey, it's not all doom and gloom if you're a baseball fan living in San Diego, as the city will play host to this year's MLB All-Star game in July. Though it's still a few months away, the Mid-Summer Classic might be the only time that San Diego baseball fans will be treated to some offense generated by the home team this season.


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