© Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — Not only did the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate last year’s National League championship with a pregame ring ceremony on Saturday night, but they also celebrated their first win of the season after beating the San Francisco Giants 5-0. As Kenta Maeda held San Francisco to five hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts, three errors played a part in spoiling Derek Holland’s Giants debut.
After Chris Taylor coaxed a leadoff walk, he went on to score Los Angeles’ first run of the season off a sacrifice fly by Yasiel Puig. Coming into Saturday’s game, the Giants had held the Dodgers scoreless through 18 innings, allowing only seven hits with 18 strikeouts.
Holland was bailed out by an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play in the first, but not before Matt Kemp put the Dodgers ahead 2-0 with an RBI single. The following inning, Taylor reached third on a missed play by Andrew McCutchen and was brought home on another sacrifice fly, this time from the bat of Enrique Hernandez.
The Dodgers upped their lead in the fourth inning thanks to an outfield miscommunication between Gregor Blanco and McCutchen, which allowed two runs to cross the plate.
After retiring the side in the fifth, Holland was relieved Pierce Johnson, who also made his Giants debut. Through five innings, Holland allowed three hits, three walks, and five runs, two of which were unearned.
Johnson, Sam Dyson, and Reyes Moronta all pitched scoreless innings in their first relief appearances of the regular season. While Johnson and Moronta, who touched 98 mph, went three-up-three-down in the sixth and eighth respectively, Dyson’s only blemish in the seventh was a two-out single from Chase Utley.
Despite being shut out, the Giants weren’t without their fair share of scoring opportunities. They threatened with two singles in the second and third innings, but were held scoreless on both occasions. Hunter Pence and Blanco hit back-to-back singles before Joe Panik and Buster Posey singled in the third.
Blanco hit the second of San Francisco’s consecutive singles, keeping him perfect against Maeda in his career. He singled again in the fourth inning to improve to 4-for-4 lifetime against Maeda with two doubles and two singles.
Evan Longoria was robbed of what easily could have been his first hit of the season in the second, but was beaten out by a phenomenal play at third base from Kyle Farmer. When Longoria was subbed out by Pablo Sandoval in the sixth, he was 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
On the flip side, Buster Posey put up his first hit of the season with a two-out single in the third. He doubled in the sixth to finish the game 2-for-3 before being replaced by Nick Hundley.
Joe Panik didn’t hit another game-winning home run, but he did continue to swing the bat well in his first game as the leadoff hitter. After striking out in the first inning, Panik hit a pair of singles to finish the night 2-for-3.
Keaton Moore is a KNBR.com contributor, follow Keaton on Twitter at @KeatonAMoore