Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw will start on Opening Day for the sixth straight year.

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw, who will start Opening Day against the Padres on April 4, has made five consecutive Opening Day starts. The Dodgers have won all five games. (David Crane/Staff photographer)

On April 5, 2010, Vicente Padilla started for the Dodgers against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s notable for a handful of reasons. It was Opening Day, and the only time in the last nine years the Dodgers have begun their season on the road against a non-NL West opponent.

It was also the last time someone other than Clayton Kershaw started on Opening Day for the Dodgers. Vicente Padilla. There’s your trivia answer.

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Clayton Kershaw is the National League pitcher of the month for July.

Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw was named the National League pitcher of the month for the second straight month. (John McCoy/Staff photographer)


Call it “The Summer of Kershaw.”

Clayton Kershaw picked up his second consecutive National League Pitcher of the Month award on Monday, having also won the honor in June.

In five outings last month, Kershaw was 4-0 with a N.L.-best 1.07 ERA. He completed three of the five games, tied for first in the N.L. in wins, and posted the second-lowest opponents’ batting average (.165) among qualifying N.L. pitchers. Kershaw fanned 43 during the month, which was good for fourth in the Senior Circuit, while walking only four.

Burt Hooton was the last Dodgers pitcher to win the Pitcher of the Month award in consecutive months, in August and September 1975. Don Sutton also pulled the feat in April and May of 1975.

This is Kershaw’s fourth career Pitcher of the Month Award, having won previously for July 2011, July 2013 and June 2014.

Daily Distractions: Time to forget about Robinson Cano?

Robinson Cano rocks a Cleveland Cavaliers sweater while bro-hugging Jay-Z at a Cavs playoff game in 2009. C.C. Sabathia (right) photo-bombs. Which of them will be Yankees in 2013?    (Getty Images)

If Robinson Cano isn’t the Dodgers’ second baseman next year, blame Jay-Z. A little.

More accurately, you might blame Cano for switching agents this week, from Boras Corp. to the brand-new Roc Nation Sports Agency, a Jay-Z creation. Cano is Roc Nation’s first client.

Jay-Z is not Cano’s agent — in fact, Cano will be represented by CAA’s Brodie Van Wagenen. CAA and Roc Nation have some sort of a working agreement and it’s unclear how the particulars of that arrangement shake out. Regardless, here’s what we know:

1. Jay-Z is a Yankees fan who would probably like to see his team re-sign its best player.
2. CAA is less likely to usher its star clients onto the free-agent market than Boras.

FoxSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal asked Van Wagenen the question on every Dodger fan’s mind: Will Cano hit free agency when his contract expires at the end of the season, or will he re-sign with the Yankees before then?

Cano, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season, enjoys playing for the Yankees and is open to staying with the club.

“New York and Yankees fans have been great for Robbie,” Van Wagenen said. “He has flourished in pinstripes and loved his time in the city. His primary focus is continuing to represent that brand and help his team win games.

“Is there an opening for him to explore a contract? You know us. We’re not going to talk publicly about that. We certain will continue to work diligently to help him achieve his goals both on and off the field.”

There isn’t much to read into there, but it’s probably time to line up a Plan B in your fantasy 2014 Dodgers lineup. The Dodgers hold a club option for their current second baseman and number-two hitter, Mark Ellis, once his contract expires after this season. Ellis turns 36 in June. His age, and his career .265/.331/.394 slash line, are why no one is clamoring for the Dodgers to exercise that option — even if Ellis is the team’s best defensive infielder.
As for other second basemen who could become free agents at the end of the season, the Rays hold an option on Ben Zobrist; Chase Utley will be 35; Brian Roberts will be 36; and there’s always Nick Punto and Skip Schumaker. (Full list courtesy of MLBTradeRumors.com).
Some bullet points:
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Daily Distractions: Don Sutton bobblehead; updates on Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, Hanley Ramirez.

Don SuttonDon Sutton will be the fourth and final bobblehead given away during the 2013 season, the Dodgers announced today.

The mini-Suttons will be nodding yes on June 6. The 7 p.m. game that night against the Atlanta Braves is a three-star game under the Dodgers’ new pricing plan.

The other bobblehead giveaways this season include Hanley Ramirez on April 30 (vs. COL), Matt Kemp on May 14 (vs. WAS), Jaime Jarrín on May 25 (vs. STL), Sandy Koufax on June 27 (vs. PHI), Adrian Gonzalez on July 11 (vs. COL), Vin Scully on July 25 (vs. CIN), Hideo Nomo on Aug. 10 (vs. TB), a “flag saving” Rick Monday on Aug. 27 (vs. CHI) and Magic Johnson on Sept. 12 (vs. SF).

It’s the first-ever bobblehead for Sutton at Dodger Stadium, who was given the royal treatment in 2007 in Milwaukee. Sutton was a Brewer for two-and-a-half seasons and a Dodger for 16 – from 1966 to 1980 and again in 1988. He still owns several franchise pitching records, including wins (233), starts (533), games (550), strikeouts (2,696), innings pitched (3,814.0) and shutouts (52).

Which defunct San Francisco ballpark, and which former National League MVP’s reputation, are getting blown up? Read on …

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