One solid debut

The Good:

• Clayton Kershaw: Even through the roughest part of his day- a five batter, 32 pitch first inning in which he allowed one of two runs- Kershaw showed why he's so highly regarded, striking out the side. As the game went on, he did nothing but make an already giddy Dodger Nation giddier.  Second inning: 12 pitches.  In the third, 10.  The fourth (11) and fifth (10) were equally efficient.  And even in the sixth, when Kershaw threw 27 pitches and the Cardinals scored their second run to tie the game at two, he displayed the same electric stuff.  Nobody in the Cardinal lineup hit him hard.  Only because James Loney lost a Brian Barton flare in the sun were the Redbirds able to get anything going.  His 98th pitch was a wicked curveball that froze Jason LaRue. 

The final line: Six IP, seven Ks, two runs, five hits, one walk, hype met.  Obviously it's too early to declare him Rookie of the Year/MVP/LA's next HOFer, but the kid looked good today, that's for sure. 

• Andre Ethier:  His two out single to right off Mike Parisi scored Juan Pierre to win it in the 10th for LA.  Before that, though, Ethier had contributed a pair of hits and scored a run.  Now that there's no question he'll play every day, Ethier is in a position to show whoever still needs to see it that he is, in fact, an every day caliber player.  Five hits in his last two games doesn't hurt. 
  
• Russell Martin: His double in the fourth brought home Ethier, and with two outs in the sixth, he singled to score Pierre.  That's a rare clutch knock for the Blue, and that's two run scoring hits, for those of you playing along at home.  Considering the Dodgers only had four runs on the afternoon, it's fair to say ol' Russ pulled his weight, despite a throwing error that led to a St. Louis run. 
  
• Luis Maza: He got the Dodgers on the board with his first Major League homer, and legged out an infield single in the eighth. He also chipped in with a sacrifice after Pierre led off he sixth with a hit, and made a great play in the ninth on an Aaron Miles grounder.  He couldn't get the runner at first, but by smothering the ball he kept the potential winning run at second, rather than third, where all sorts of goofy things can happen.
• Takashi Saito: He picked up the win with two innings of tip top relief, striking out a career high five batters along the way.  The 3-2 breaking ball he threw to freeze Albert Pujols in the 10th was about as nasty an offering as you'll ever see.

The Bad:

• James Loney: Don't look now (I said don't look!) but with an 0-4 day, Loney officially took the bagel for the St. Louis series.  0-12, and his average is back down to .276.  To add insult to injury, he might have cost Kershaw a chance to win his debut by losing that pop up by Barton in the sun.  And, just to emphasize how tough things have been, it was sunny for about seven seconds of today's game.  When it rains, it pours.  (Maybe that's a bad expression for sun issues?)
• Matt Kemp: Took an oh-fer himself in four trips, putting him in a 1-10 mini-slump.  Nothing to worry about, really, but I didn't want to leave Loney all alone. 

Look for some postgame video of Kershaw coming on the Dodgers page tonight.  I'll get some audio and quotes up too, but right now I have to run (shameless plug coming...), as I'll be sitting in with Ken Levine on 790 KABC from 7-10 tonight, and have to get to the station.

BK