Feeling Dodger blue

SYDNEY/SEOUL (Yonhap) ― Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers won his first start of the 2014 season against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Australia on Sunday, throwing five shutout innings in L.A.’s 7-5 win in the second game of the MLB opening series Down Under.

Ryu stymied the Diamondbacks at Sydney Cricket Ground, yielding just two hits and one walk while striking out five batters.

He also went 1 for 2 with a run scored. He threw 87 pitches, 55 of them for strikes.

Ryu opened his sophomore big league season on a winning note.

Last year, Ryu gave up 10 hits and three runs, two of them unearned, to take the loss in his first MLB start against the San Francisco Giants.

The left-hander was 14-8 with a 3.00 ERA last year and finished fourth in the voting for the NL Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2013, Ryu went 1-2 with a 4.65 ERA in five starts against the Diamondbacks. He also struggled in opening frames last year, posting an ERA of 5.10 in the first inning, higher than any other inning.

On Sunday, the Dodgers spotted him a one-run advantage thanks to Andre Ethier’s RBI single in the top of the first.

Ryu retired the first two batters he faced, and after giving up a single to Paul Goldschmidt, Ryu struck out Martin Prado swinging.

He gave up a two-out hit to Gerardo Parra in the second inning but stranded him by striking out Didi Gregorius.

The Diamondbacks would not get another hit the rest of the afternoon. They did threaten to score in the bottom fourth on a pair of fielding miscues.

Goldschmidt reached on an error by second baseman Dee Gordon.

After striking out Prado, Ryu got Miguel Montero to hit what could have been a double-play ball to short.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez tried to tag second base and throw to first but both runners were safe.

Ryu went on to retire Mark Trumbo on a fly to right and struck out Parra looking on a slider.

The Dodgers gave the South Korean pitcher more cushion, scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Withrow relieved Ryu to start the sixth inning.

Kershaw shines in opener

SYDNEY (AP) ― Opening day turned out to be a pretty g’day for the Los Angeles Dodgers and ace Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw flashed his Cy Young form, Scott Van Slyke homered and the NL West champions opened the Major League Baseball season with a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night at Sydney Cricket Ground.

A crowd of about 40,000 watched as MLB played its first regular-season game in Australia.

Kershaw, who signed a seven-year, $215 million contract in January, allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. Van Slyke hit a two-run homer and also doubled.

The first pitch was delayed because of rain for 14 minutes. By then, the long trip Down Under had taken even longer for some Arizona players.

A team bus had a flat tire, and the Diamondbacks said “a handful” of players decided to walk the last half-mile to the stadium instead of waiting for a replacement bus.

Kershaw was impressive while making his fourth consecutive opening-day start. He struck out seven, walked one and was pulled by manager Don Mattingly after throwing his 102nd pitch.

Quite a turnaround from spring training, when the two-time NL Cy Young winner went 0-3 with a 9.20 ERA in four starts.

“Sometimes you just need the adrenaline of a regular-season game, and I just kind of feel relieved to get this one under my belt,” he said.

“It’s always good to get results, obviously,” he said. “This one counted.”

In his previous opening-day starts, Kershaw was 2-0 with 19 strikeouts in 19 scoreless innings.

“Kershaw did a good job keeping us in the middle of the diamond,” Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. “He threw a good ballgame against us. We know they’re always going to be close.”

Three relievers kept the Diamondbacks scoreless with hitless work. Chris Perez, a two-time All-Star with Cleveland before joining the Dodgers in the offseason, got the last out in the seventh.

Brian Wilson pitched the eighth and closer Kenley Jansen got the save.