Read More: Tim Lincecum (P – SFG), Clayton Kershaw (P – LOS), Jonathan Broxton (P – LOS), Pat Burrell (LF – SFG), Los Angeles Dodgers

Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) – Clayton Kershaw outdueled Tim Lincecum and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the reigning World Series champion San Francisco Giants, 2-1, in Don Mattingly’s managerial debut.

Kershaw (1-0), the youngest Opening Day starter for the Dodgers since 1983, struck out nine and scattered four hits and a walk in seven scoreless innings, while Jonathan Broxton survived Pat Burrell’s solo homer in the ninth to secure the save.

Lincecum (0-1) worked around several jams in his seven frames, but gave up an unearned run when Buster Posey’s throwing error scored Matt Kemp in the sixth. The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed five hits and three walks while fanning five.

For more opening day and Dodgers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.

LOS ANGELES, March 31 (UPI) — Clayton Kershaw allowed four hits and struck out nine over seven shutout innings Thursday and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on to edge San Francisco 2-1.

The last of the six games on baseball’s opening day turned into a duel between Kershaw and Tim Lincecum, the ace of the defending World Series champion Giants.

Lincecum suffered the loss despite not allowing an earned run in seven innings.

Los Angeles broke the scoreless tie in the sixth thanks to two of the three errors San Francisco committed in the game.

Matt Kemp walked with one out, went to second on a fielder’s choice grounder by James Loney and moved on to third on a throwing error by shortstop Miguel Tejada. Kemp scored when an ill-advised pickoff attempt by catcher Buster Posey eluded third baseman Pedro Sandoval for another error.

Loney doubled home Kemp with the second Los Angeles run in the eighth and that turned out to be a vital score when Pat Burrell lined a one-out homer just over the left field wall in the ninth.

Jonathan Broxton then got Tejada on a weak grounder in front of the plate and Brandon Belt on a soft liner to third to complete the save.

Kershaw is beginning his fourth season with the Dodgers, having gone 13-10 a year ago.

By Eric Stephen – Editor

Read More: Jay Gibbons (LF – LOS), Casey Blake (3B – LOS), Juan Uribe (3B – LOS), Jamey Carroll (2B – LOS), Tony Gwynn Jr. (LF – LOS), Matt Kemp (CF – LOS), Andre Ethier (RF – LOS), Tim Lincecum (P – SFG), Xavier Paul (CF – LOS), Ivan DeJesus (2B – LOS), Clayton Kershaw (P – LOS), Brandon Belt (1B – SFG), San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers, Mar 31, 2011 5:00 PM PDT

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Mar 31, 2011 - When the Dodgers and Giants get together, it’s always a treat, simply because of their rivalry goes back more than a century. Add in the fact that tonight is opening day, and the game features two of the best pitchers in baseball, as the game becomes even more special. Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers will host Tim Lincecum and the Giants in an evening game at Dodger Stadium on ESPN.

Tonight’s 5 p.m. PDT game will be one of two games televised this weekend by ESPN (well, technically Sunday’s game is on ESPN2). Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser, and Bobby Valentine are on the call. Local fans, however, don’t fear. Vin Scully will be calling at least six innings on radio, KABC 790. Scully will call the first three innings and innings seven through nine, plus any extra innings.

The Dodgers open their season with five players on the disabled list, including projected regulars Casey Blake and Jay Gibbons. Newcomer Juan Uribe, penciled in as the regular second baseman, will open the season at third base for Blake, with Jamey Carroll getting the opening day nod at second base. Ivan DeJesus is also expected to see time at second base in Blake’s absence. Tony Gwynn Jr. will get the opening day start in left field, against the right-handed Lincecum, though Xavier Paul will also play against right-handers.

Kershaw has allowed six earned runs in five career starts against the Giants, and picked up his first career complete game and shutout at AT&T Park in San Francisco last September. One of the hitters Kershaw will face will be Brandon Belt, who is making his major league debut tonight. Belt, a left-handed batter, won the Giants’ first base job out of spring, and he played against Kershaw in high school in Texas. Both graduated high school in 2006.

Matt Kemp has an active streak of homering in five straight game, tied for the longest streak in Dodgers franchise history. Andre Ethier has reached base in each of his last eight plate appearances.

For more opening day and Dodgers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.

Los Angeles – The Los Angeles Dodgers are scheduled to open their season today at Dodger Stadium with new manager Don Mattingly confident that the still unresolved divorce of owner Frank McCourt won’t effect the team.

“They don’t throw it, they don’t hit it, they don’t pitch it,” Mattingly said this week, referring to McCourt and his former wife Jamie. “We had a meeting after the season was over. There’s been no talk about it. We don’t make decisions based on that.”

Last year’s trial over the validity of the couple’s martial property agreement included revelations of how they used the team to finance their opulent lifestyle and sparked fears Frank McCourt will either not have, or not spend the money necessary to again make the Dodgers championship contenders.

The Dodgers have gone 22 seasons without winning a National League pennant, the longest streak in their 121-season history.

Mattingly said all the Dodgers’ off-season personnel moves “have been all baseball decisions.”

“They were trying to make us the best club possible,” Mattingly said.

A Los Angeles judge ruled in December that the 2004 marital property agreement between the McCourts, in which Frank McCourt claimed sole ownership of the Dodgers, was invalid.

The McCourts met on March 2 to renew settlement talks and attorneys on both sides have declined to comment, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mattingly was named as the ninth manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the 27th in the history of the franchise Sept. 17, succeeding Joe Torre, who retired after three seasons with the team.

Mattingly had been the team’s hitting coach from midway through the 2008 season through 2010. He was the New York Yankees hitting coach from 2004-2006 and their bench coach in 2007.

Mattingly takes over a team that finished fourth in the five-team National League West in 2010 with an 80-82 record, the Dodgers first losing record since 2005.

Despite last year’s record, Mattingly said he believes “we have a good club,” because of the strength of its starting pitching.

The Dodgers re-signed Ted Lilly and Hiroki Kuroda and signed Jon Garland during the off-season. Combined with returning starters Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers rotation had a cumulative earned run average of 3.39 and opponents’ batting average of .234 in 2010, which would have led the major leagues.

“Every time we send a guy out there, we have a chance to win,” Mattingly said.

Kershaw will be the starter in today’s game against the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. Tim Lincecum, the National League leader in strikeouts each of the past three seasons will start for the Giants.

Kershaw announced on Wednesday that he and his wife Ellen will donated $100 for each of his strikeouts during the season to Arise Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping end poverty in the continent through health care, education, business and discipleship.

The Dodgers Dream Foundation, the team’s charitable arm, will also make a financial commitment to Arise Africa.

Kershaw and his wife have set a goal of raising $70,000 to start an orphanage in Lusaka, Zambia that will be called Hope’s Home, named for an 11-year-old orphan who is HIV positive whom the Kershaws befriended on their trip to Zambia during the off-season.

Kershaw is encouraging fans to join the cause by visiting the website kershawschallenge.com.

The Dodgers will celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1981 World Series championship throughout their season-opening four-game series against the Giants, including having Fernando Valenzuela and several other members of the team throw today’s ceremonial first pitch.

Another member of the 1981 team, Bill Russell, will sign autographs in Autograph Alley.

The team will also have several promotions during the season tied to the 1981 title-winning team.

Opera star Placido Domingo is scheduled to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Before the national anthem, a moment of silence will be observed for the people killed in the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Pregame ceremonies will also include approximately 136 members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Coast Guard, Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Fire Department will unfurl a giant flag on the field.

A B-2 bomber will fly over Dodger Stadium at the end of the national anthem.

Broadway star Davis Gaines is scheduled to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch.

The Dodgers will honor their first Veteran of the Game today, as they will at every home game this season.

The first honoree is Army 2nd Lt. Steven Hole, who earned the distinction by winning the home run hitting contest at the military batting practice the team hosted on Veterans Day. Hole played football at West Point and is a third-year medical student at USC.

The Dodgers will wear a patch in memory of Hall of Fame outfielder Duke Snider throughout the season. The patch will feature Snider’s uniform No. 4. Snider, who played for

the Dodgers from 1947-62, is the franchise’s career leader in home runs and runs batted in. He died Feb. 27 at the age of 84.

The team will host a celebration of his life Aug. 9, which will include the first 50,000 fans in attendance receiving a bobblehead featuring his likeness.

The Dodgers had been scheduled to play their season opener Friday, with the customary 1:10 p.m. starting time. However, the game was moved to today at 5 p.m. at the request of ESPN to bolster its Opening Day coverage.

Read More: Mike MacDougal (P – LOS), Aaron Miles (2B – LOS), Lance Cormier (P – LOS), Hector Gimenez (C – LOS), John Lindsey (1B – FLA), Jon Link (P – LOS), Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers set their 25-man opening day roster after tonight’s 8-1 win in their spring finale at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers will open with five players on the disabled list, with nearly all of them expected back at various points in April. The biggest surprise on the roster is probably Hector Gimenez, the 28-year old catcher who also saw time at first base and even left field this spring. Here is the full 25-man roster:

• Starting pitchers (4): Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda
• Relief pitchers (7): Jonathan Broxton, Hong-Chih Kuo, Matt Guerrier, Kenley Jansen, Blake Hawksworth, Mike MacDougal, Lance Cormier
• Catchers (3): Rod Barajas, A.J. Ellis, Hector Gimenez
• Infielders (6): James Loney, Jamey Carroll, Rafael Furcal, Juan Uribe, Aaron Miles, Ivan DeJesus
• Outfielders (5): Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Marcus Thames, Tony Gwynn Jr., Xavier Paul
• Disabled List (5): Casey Blake, Jon Garland, Vicente Padilla, Jay Gibbons, Dioner Navarro

The Dodgers had 39 players on their 40-man roster, but with the additions of non-roster invitees MacDougal, Cormier, and Miles, they needed to make two corresponding moves. The club designated John Lindsey and Jon Link for assignment to make room.

The Dodgers will need a fifth starter on April 10, so another move will need to be made to accommodate the pitcher, who will likely be Tim Redding, who will begin his season with the Triple A Albuquerque Isotopes.

For more Dodgers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.

The mere fact that Erik Bedard was able to get through spring training healthy was a victory in itself for the Seattle Mariners’ injury-plagued left-hander.

So, it didn’t matter much to him what his pitching line was Wednesday night in an 8-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bedard gave up five runs and six hits over four innings, finishing his spring slate 3-1 in six starts with a 3.15 ERA. The No. 4 starter in the rotation is scheduled to make his season debut Monday night at Texas — his first appearance in a regular-season game since July 25, 2009.

“I’m just happy that I’m healthy,” Bedard said. “That’s the main thing. It’s been a long couple of years. I worked hard in the offseason to get where I’m at, and it paid off. Here I am.”

Rubby De La Rosa allowed two hits over 5 2-3 scoreless innings, Corey Smith hit a three-run homer and Marcus Thames had a solo shot for the Dodgers in the final exhibition game for both teams.

After the game, De La Rosa was reassigned to the Dodgers’ minor league camp in Arizona, and is likely to go to Double-A Chattanooga.

Bedard missed the entire 2010 seasons because of two shoulder surgeries — the first on Aug. 14, 2009, to repair a torn labrum and the other last Aug. 6 to have bone spurs removed.

“I feel fine,” he said. “Tonight, I was throwing strikes and they hit them. It doesn’t really count, so you erase that and start over when I get my first start.”

He signed a one-year contract in December as a free agent, a month after the Mariners declined to exercise his $8 million option and opted to pay him a $250,000 buyout.

“Obviously, he’s had some recent history with his arm and whatnot,” Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. “So for him to just go out there and throw free and easy and pitch like he has all spring has been fun to watch and I think he’s really enjoyed it.

“He’s one of our five guys that you start everything with, and he’s earned it,” Wedge added. “We wanted to keep him right about 70-75 pitches tonight and he threw 73. We wanted to pull back a few of these guys in their last start, and that’s what we did with him. He’s had a fantastic spring and now it’s time to go.”

The Dodgers, 80-82 last season after reaching the NL championship series the previous two years under former manager Joe Torre, open the season Thursday at home against the World Series champion Giants with Don Mattingly at the helm in his official managerial debut. Clayton Kershaw gets the start against two-time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

“I really don’t have any complaints with the way camp went and the effort that these guys have given us,” Mattingly said. “Spring training is about preparation. Now we’ve got to go play. Either your horses are going to run, or they’re not.”

De La Rosa struck out six and walked none, finishing the spring 1-2 with a 2.29 ERA in six appearances and three starts. In his previous start on March 18, he pitched four hitless innings against San Francisco.

The 22-year-old right-hander, whose first name is pronounced ‘Ruby,’ was the Dodgers’ minor league pitcher of the year last season and shared the organization’s annual Jim and Dearie Mulvey Award this spring with outfielder Jerry Sands as the top rookies in camp.

“He’s been lightening. He’s fun to watch,” Mattingly said of De La Rosa. “Every time he pitches, you kind of go, ‘Wow, I’m looking forward to this. Rubby’s had a great camp. We heard about him in the winter, seen him in the winter development program here at the stadium, and all spring he’s been good. Obviously, there’s progress to be made with him and he keeps getting better.”

The Mariners, who lost 101 games last season and scored a major league-worst 513 runs, open at Oakland on Friday night with reigning AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez making his fourth career opening day start against Trevor Cahill.

The Dodgers finished spring training 14-21-1. The Mariners were 16-13-2, the first time they’ve had a winning preseason record since 2004.

Notes: Mariners LF Milton Bradley finished the spring with one homer, 14 RBIs and a .318 average in 17 games. Sunday marks the 11th anniversary of the trade that sent Bradley to the Dodgers from Cleveland, where he also played for Wedge. The Dodgers ended up trading Bradley to Oakland in December 2005 for a minor league prospect named Andre Ethier. … Twelve-year veteran INF Adam Kennedy, who signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners on Jan. 10, had his contract selected by the team from Triple-A Tacoma and was added to the 40-man roster along with RHP Jamey Wright and RHP Chris Ray. Kennedy, 35, is playing for his fifth big league team after spending last season with the Washington Nationals. … Wright pitched 12 innings in 11 appearances this spring without giving up a run.