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Quick Quotes
'Kershaw did a good job keeping us in the middle of the diamond,'' Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. ''He threw a good ballgame against us. We know they're always going to be close.''
-Kirk Gibson on Kershaw's strong outing
''My baserunning needs some work,'' Kershaw said, laughing. ''I almost stopped at first base and then went to second, and that hesitation probably killed me. I'm not that fast, so I need all the help I can get. Fortunately, it didn't hurt us very much.''
-Clayton Kershaw on his poor baserunning
"It was pretty typical," Trumbo said of Kershaw. "He had his off-speed stuff working real nice. Obviously, he has a good fastball to compliment it, but I thought he threw his breaking stuff well, a lot of strike-to-ball type pitches. We chased a fair bit, but give credit to his stuff."
-Mark Trumbo on Kershaw's outing.
Daily Digest
Diamondbacks Drop Season Opener 3-1/ Miley Strikes Out 8 in Loss
Clayton Kershaw appeared to be near mid-season form, mixing his pitches and striking out seven before being lifted in the seventh after throwing 102 pitches. The wind gave Mark Trumbo fits playing a long fly off the bat of Scoot Van Slyke, though Goldschmidt scored the Diamondbacks' first run of the season off of the bat of Mark Trumbo in the 6th. Wade Miley allowed 3 ER through five frames, walking two and striking out eight.
Diamondback Player Bus Gets Flat, Players Walk to Work
Given the eventual results of game one of the day/night double-header, perhaps the Diamondbacks should have taken the flat tire as a sign of things to come.
Owings Struggles in Opener, SS Battle Still Wide-Open
I'm not sure how fair it is to fault Owings for having difficulties in the box when facing Clayton Kershaw, but at least he drew a walk against the Dodgers' closer, showing for one game at least that he might indeed be developing some patience at the plate. Gregorius will get the nod in Game 2 against LHP Hyun Jin-Ryu. If he does well, will this end the competition, and if he does poorly, then what?
Diamondbacks' Offense Sputtering in Australia
The Diamondbacks have been a bit sluggish down under. Hopefully they can get enough rest to reverse the trend before this evening.
Diamondbacks Roster Issues and the 5th Starter
After the games in Australia are completed, the Diamondbacks will have some tough choices to make. The roster must be trimmed by 3 names, and a fifth starter must still be decided upon. Bradley has struggled of late, but Delgado still needs to be stretched out. Meanwhile, Arroyo still needs to finish recovering from his bulging disc.
Around MLB
Protective Headgear for Pitchers has Taken too Long
In the wake of Aroldis Chapman taking a line drive to the head on Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rays' Alex Cobb spoke out about the protective headgear that may be available as early as mid-April, saying that such a timetable is too late, putting into question the adoption of such gear for the 2014 season.
Bud Selig Has Faith Dodger TV Deal Will Be Worked Out
As if the MLB blackout restrictions on games isn't bad enough, large swaths of southern Californians are currently unable to watch their home team Dodgers no matter who their service provider is.
Video Highlights
The Good: Martin Prado flashes the leather (and some hops) to rob Andre Ethier of a base hit.
The Meh: Mark Trumbo records his first RBI as an Arizona Diamondback
The U-G-L-Y: Mark Trumbo had a rough night in Left Field, the sort he would really like to have back. Let's hope this isn't a sign of things to come.