PHOENIX -- Hollywood would eat it up, not that the men from Hollywood did.
Neither Archie Bradley nor the Diamondbacks could not have scripted his major league debut much better.
With 55 family members and friends living every pitch from the Chase Field seats, Bradley gave up only one hit in six shutout innings and beat reigning NL MVP and Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-0.
Appearing composed and confident, Bradley struck out six and walked four while mixing his fastball and curveball. He was in trouble only once, after Howie Kendrick's double put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but that only looked like trouble.
Bradley threw a 3-2 curveball to get a swinging strikeout for the second out, and he got out of the inning on a routine grounder to maintain a 2-0 lead.
That was a test, and he passed easily.
The normal first-game emotions seemed no issue, either, as he became the first D-backs' pitcher to make a quality start this season, using 111 pitches.
"I don't know if it is so much nerves or just an eagerness and an anxiousness to get out there," he said. "Blood was pumping. Heart was beating pretty fast. I was just ready to get this thing going."
Once going, it went about as he imagined.
"You think about yourself getting a win," Bradley said. "You think about yourself throwing the ball well. Not pleased with the walks or the pitch count. But for the first one, I'll take it. I'll sleep OK tonight.
"Really want to cherish this and remember it for a long, long time.
Bradley was the seventh player taken in the 2011 draft, and this was the sort of thing scouts predicted about his future. Refining his fastball location and developing a dependable curveball were the final steps in getting him to the majors.
"That was just premium stuff," said D-backs right fielder Mark Trumbo, who had two singles and an RBI. "What impressed me the most was the use of the off-speed. I think it was very timely. Threw it for strikes. Also bounced it when he needed to. Great command of the fastball. They never got anything going off him."
At 22, Bradley just might be here for good. He was the fifth pitcher from his draft class to make a major league start, and he was the youngest of the group. He and the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gerrit Cole are the only ones to win their debut. Cole won his first four; Bradley will make his second start Thursday at San Francisco.
"His stuff was really good," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "That's a great lineup. He did a nice job of navigating through it. He's a confident kid. It's exciting for him. Exciting for the ball club. Exciting for the organization."
Being matched against Kershaw was not the impediment some seemed to believe it might be. It seemed to bring out his best.
"If you can't get excited and get ready to pitch against Clayton Kershaw, you need to go get yourself checked out," he said. "I didn't want to get too high. Stay calm and stay within myself."
Bradley walked four and had eight 3-2 counts, but added, "I never really felt like I was uncomfortable."
The D-backs chipped away against Kershaw with runs in the first and third, and after Bradley cleared the top of the fourth they scored two more in the last of the inning. While the D-backs kept Kershaw in constant trouble, only one of the final nine batters Bradley faced reached base.
I love seeing Archie #Bradley giving credit to his catcher because they are one-two, and showing no fear against Kershaw
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) April 12, 2015
"You can't ask for anything else," D-backs catcher Tuffy Gosewisch said. "He went out there, great attitude. He attacked. He was aggressive. He didn't try to over-throw."
Bradley was so impressive that he provoked a little unexpected bravado from the Dodgers, whose only other hit was Adrian Gonzalez's one-out single in the ninth inning against Randall Delgado.
"It is the first look at him," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We will get him next time."
Ender Inciarte keeps using his up-the-middle approach against left-handers, and he keeps having success. He had two singles, one a bunt down the third-base line, against Clayton Kershaw and is 6-for-11 against lefties this season. He is 4-for-7 in his career against Kershaw.
4 -- Consecutive games in which Paul Goldschmidt had homered against the Dodgers, the final two last season and the first two this season. He has 15 homers against the Dodgers in his career.
* Archie Bradley had eight 3-2 counts, including on the first five batters of the game. But only two of those reached base, both on walks, and he struck out Andre Ethier on a 3-2 pitch with runners on second and third with one out in the fifth. "My command was off a little here and there, but I was able to rebound," Bradley said. "I was very pleased with that."
* A.J. Pollock had three of the D-backs' 10 hits against Clayton Kershaw. Pollock also scored twice and walked. "It's a team effort to make things hard on him," Pollock said. "When he makes those tough pitches, you have to lay off them. A lot of them are strikes, and you just have to tip your cap. But when he gives you a pitch that you can handle, you really have to jump on them." Pollock had been 4-for-19 against Kershaw in his career.
* Clayton Kershaw gave up six runs (five earned) in 6 1/3 innings, his worst start since his May 17 outing here last year in which he gave up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings, the shortest outing of his career. In between, Kershaw didn't give up more than three runs in any of his 24 starts, including his first one this season. "I think you are putting too much into it," Kershaw said of his relative lack of success at Chase Field. "If you have your stuff, if you execute, it really doesn't matter where you are pitching. I made a lot of mistakes."
* The Dodgers were down to their third third baseman by the fourth inning and used four. Justin Turner suffered a finger injury when he was spiked by A.J. Pollock as he attempted to steal third base in the third inning; his replacement, Juan Uribe, suffered a hamstring injury on the very next play when he was forced to make an awkward throw after fielding a grounder. Alex Guerrero and Darwin Barney also played there.
Yasmany Tomas had some business to attend to and was late for batting practice for Reno's season-opener against Albuquerque on Thursday night, so he did not play. Tomas is 3-for-9 in the two games since, including an RBI double in the Aces' 7-3 victory Saturday.
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