Dodgers Dugout: Homer heaven

Welcome to another edition of Dodger Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, reminding you that the opening three games of the season were a perfect example of how the Dodgers will be this year: Exciting wins sandwiched around the bullpen blowing a game.

Gone-zalez

In case you were hiding under a rock and missed it, Adrian Gonzalez opened the season with five home runs in three games, including three in Wednesday’s 7-4 victory over the San Diego Padres. It is the first time in major league history that a player has hit five home runs in the first three games of the season, and the Dodgers open a three-game series in Arizona’s Chase Field tonight. As Times Dodgers reporter Dylan Hernandez points out, Gonzalez has hit 20 home runs there.

Trivia time

Which L.A. Dodger has the record for most home runs in April, and how many did he hit? Answer below.

New bullpen face

In a bid to shore up the bullpen, the Dodgers acquired right-handed reliever Ryan Webb from the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday for two minor league players who will probably never make the majors. Good news: Webb has a career 3.38 ERA in 325.1 innings. Bad news: He has zero career saves and he was designated for assignment (basically, released) by the Orioles, so how good can he really be?

Wait a minute …

So the Padres upgrade their bullpen by acquiring All-Star closer Craig Kimbrel from Atlanta, while the Dodgers upgrade theirs by acquiring a guy the Orioles put in their frontyard with a “Free” sign on him. Which team has the big budget again?

Strange program

So, I spent the week in San Diego on vacation, and, after walking around each day making fun of Padres fans, I would see this strange sight on television: the Dodgers. Yes, the Dodgers were on TV in San Diego. I had to drive all the way down there to see them. I didn’t get to listen to Vin Scully, but I heard the next best thing: Dick Enberg, who is the Padres’ TV announcer. It really drove home what a shame it is that the Dodgers are not available on TV to so many fans in Los Angeles, and how much more invested you become in the team when you can actually watch them.

Dodgers tracker

If you miss a game this season and want to see what happened, or if you just want to relive a game you enjoyed, be sure to check out our Dodgers tracker, which features highlights and the box score from each game.

Trivia answer

Matt Kemp hit 12 home runs in April 2012.

And finally

At his current pace, Gonzalez will finish the season with 270 home runs. I haven’t had time to look it up, but I believe that would be a record.

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