Live discussion: Dodgers and Angels win season openers

Join Times writers Dylan Hernandez and Mike DiGiovanna at 11:30 a.m. (or watch it above anytime afterward) as they discuss everything Dodgers and Angels now that the 2013 season is finally underway.

Hernandez wrote Tuesday about Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, whose big opening game Monday included more than pitching a 4-0 shutout against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants:

“After the Dodgers forced an early removal of Giants ace Matt Cain by elevating his pitch count, Kershaw connected with a first-pitch fastball thrown to him by reliever George Kontos and deposited it over the center-field wall for the first home run of his career.

“I had no idea it was going to go out because I’ve never hit one like that in a game,” Kershaw said. “What an awesome feeling.”

“The Dodgers’ dugout exploded. So did the capacity crowd, which rose to its feet. Two pitches into Carl Crawford‘s at-bat, the fans were still standing and applauding, trying to coax Kershaw out for a curtain call. But Kershaw remained on the bench.

“I had to think about getting three more outs,” he said.

DiGiovanna wrote about how the Angels pulled out a 13-inning, 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in unexpected fashion:

“A bullpen that was much maligned in 2011 and 2012, leading the American League with 47 blown saves, looked much aligned Monday, as six relievers — Garrett Richards, Sean Burnett, Kevin Jepsen, Scott Downs, Mark Lowe and Ernesto Frieri — combined for seven scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

“And these weren’t the lowly Houston Astros the Angels were facing. They were the defending National League Central champion Reds, who have, as Manager Mike Scioscia accurately pointed out, ‘some boppers’ in the middle of the lineup.”