Top 25 Opening Day performances of all time

9. Clayton Kershaw tosses shutout and homers

Generally speaking, matchups for Opening Day are not set in stone, and teams rotate through different opponents over the years. That’s generally fine, but if MLB wants to capitalize on one of its best remaining rivalries, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will play each other on Opening Day every year until either Clayton Kershaw or Madison Bumgarner change teams. There is no better head-to-head pitching matchup to watch in baseball.

One of the best games in their long rivalry came on Opening Day in 2013. Kershaw and Bumgarner traded zeroes for eight innings. Bumgarner was removed before he could complete the game, and Kershaw came to the plate in the eighth inning of a 0-0 game and promptly delivered a home run to dead center to break the tie. He would finish the shutout on his own.

That was the first home run of his career, and it remains his only one to this date. Kershaw owns a measly .178 slugging percentage, and only had one extra-base hit in his career before this home run. Special things happen when the Giants and Dodgers play on Opening Day, but unfortunately, they do not play each other for the first time this season until April 24. What a shame, and a waste of one of the best potential head-to-head rivalries in baseball.