Many happy returns for Vin, Dodgers
By Jon Weisman
Well, the Dodgers sure treated Vin Scully right tonight in his 2016 exhibition debut, with the exception of giving him some drama.
Before the game was half over, Scully had a “deuces wild,” a “butter and egg man” and “out from me to you” — not to mention a whopping Dodger victory.
Ending an eight-game Spring Training winless streak, Los Angeles blasted San Francisco, 13–0, on a night that might be remembered as much as anything for the first appearance in a Dodger uniform by Cuban import Yaisel Sierra.
Facing three Giants minor leaguers, Sierra retired to batters on his first two pitches, a liner and a foul out, then doubled his pitch count to get the final out of the game on a fly to right.
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Pretty much everything went right for the Dodgers tonight, best illustrated by how they threw out two runners at home plate on broken plays.
In the third inning, catcher Austin Barnes made a diving stop of a Carlos Frias pitch that got away, firing home to Frias to nail Gregor Blanco at the plate. Two innings later, Carl Crawford whiffed on a diving attempt to snag Blanco’s double, but when baserunning pitcher Adalberto Mejia got confused over whether he should try to score, Crawford had time to relay from shortstop Charlie Culberson to Barnes for the out.
In a timely performance as far as his chance of starting in the season’s fifth game, Frias threw four shutout innings, allowing seven baserunners but striking out three and drawing two double plays.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run double, and four Dodgers doubled, including Chase Utley twice. Rob Segedin went 3 for 3.
In their past two nights, the Giants have allowed 29 runs.
