Andre Ethier turned 30 on Tuesday, and the outfielder celebrated in style. Ethier smacked a curve ball from Jason Grilli into the right-field pavilion to break a tie in the eighth inning and give the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Pirates at Dodger Stadium, which was also celebrating a birthday on Tuesday.
The Dodgers home opener was 50 years to the day after the first game ever in Dodger Stadium, on April 10, 1962. "The moral of the story was don't try to overshadow Dodger Stadium's birthday," Ethier joked after the game.
Ethier's home run was his fifth extra-base hit in the first five games of the season, and his second home run. Ethier is fully recovered from September knee surgery and is back swinging like the player who hit 31 home runs in 2009 and finished sixth in the National League MVP voting.
Manager Don Mattingly sees a calmness this year in the normally temperamental right fielder.
"I think Dre seems to be happy, he seems at peace. He really has no reason to be frustrated, as he has been swinging the bat well all spring," Mattingly said. "I think Dre is healthy. Last year you would see him at times, not hitting the ball like he's capable of but that injury had a lot to do with it. He's squared up, and power comes when you're square. That's a different guy right now."
Ethier said he has made a conscious effort to relax more this season, and that his teammates are to thank for that, especially Tony Gwynn Jr., Mark Ellis and Matt Kemp. "This is the best clubhouse I have been in in my seven years here," Ethier said.
After the Dodger Stadium scoreboard in left field informed the crowd that it was Ethier's birthday, he was serenaded every inning he took the field on defense. Ethier appreciated the gesture, and in turn provided the fans in right field with a souvenir with his game-winning home run.
"If I could kiss my twenties goodbye this is the way to do it," Ethier said.
NOTES, QUOTES
Kemp ties record with RBI in nine straight games
--CF Matt Kemp drove home SS Dee Gordon with a groundout to shortstop in the first inning on Tuesday, giving Kemp at least one RBI in nine straight games, dating back to 2011. The streak of nine straight games with an RBI ties the all-time Dodgers record, per the Elias Sports Bureau, also held by Roy Campanella (May 30-June 5, 1955) and Augie Galan (Sept. 18-28, 1944).
--RF Andre Ethier hit a game-winning home run in the eighth inning on Tuesday, his second of the season in just five games. It took Ethier 19 games to hit his second home run in 2011, when he was battling a knee injury that eventually required surgery. "Last year you would see him at times, not hitting the ball like he's capable of but that injury had a lot to do with it. He's squared up, and power comes when you're square. That's a different guy right now," said manager Don Mattingly.
--LHP Clayton Kershaw started his third consecutive home opener and allowed just one run in his seven innings, just five days removed from having the stomach flu. Kershaw was pulled after just 88 pitches, but that was in part because of the after effects of his illness but also because his spot in the batting order came up and the Dodgers needed a run.
"I don't think he's quite 100 percent," manager Don Mattingly said. "Obviously he feels way better than he did in his last start. A couple of days after that, he was still struggling to eat, and I don't think he's quite built back up yet."
--1B James Loney began his season with a slow start, 0-for-14 through his first four games, but manager Don Mattingly isn't worried.
"Right now I feel he's swinging the bat all right. The way he looked in spring training is the same way he looks now and the same way he looked at the end of last year," Mattingly said. "He has hit some balls on the nose. He hasn't crushed anything to the gap or anything, but he has hit some balls square. I still feel good about James."
--3B Juan Uribe went 3-for-3 on Tuesday to raise his batting average from .083 (1-for-12) to .267. "He's starting to swing the bat well," manager Don Mattingly said on Tuesday.
--Tuesday was the 50th anniversary of the first game at Dodger Stadium. On April 10, 1962, Johnny Podres and the Dodgers lost 6-2 to the Reds. In the first 50 years of the stadium, the Dodgers had a home record of 2,272-1,714, a .570 winning percentage. Dodger Stadium has hosted eight World Series and 10 no-hitters, including two perfect games, by Sandy Koufax and Dennis Martinez.
--Vin Scully, Hall of Fame announcer in his 63rd year of calling Dodgers games, missed the home opener on Tuesday with a bad cold. It was just the second home opener Scully has missed and the first since 1977, when Scully was in Augusta, Ga., to announce the Masters for CBS.
BY THE NUMBERS: 11 -- Consecutive home wins for Clayton Kershaw, who took a no-decision on Tuesday after allowing one run in seven innings.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "If I could kiss my twenties goodbye, this is the way to do it." -- RF Andre Ethier, on his game-winning home run in the eighth inning Tuesday to beat the Pirates 2-1, on his 30th birthday.
ROSTER REPORT
MEDICAL WATCH:
--LHP Ted Lilly (stiff neck) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26. He made a rehab start for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on April 8, and he might start for the Dodgers on April 14.
--RHP Blake Hawksworth (arthroscopic right elbow surgeries in January 2012 and February 2012) went on the 60-day disabled list March 27.
--2B Ivan De Jesus Jr. (torn left oblique) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to March 26.
