He's just a man, like any man you might find in Greek mythology.

- Diane Chambers

* * *

Family permitting, I'll be live-blogging the opening moments of Clayton Kershaw's major-league career.

Cardinals at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.

1:01 p.m.: "It's time for Dodger baseball." Fans on the field for Photo Day frame Vin Scully in a pretaped segment. Scully tamps the hype, focusing on the Dodgers' need to avoid being swept by the Cardinals before mentioning Kershaw's debut.

1:05 p.m.: In another pretaped interview, for "Torre's Stories," Joe Torre is making a rather emotional appeal to renew interest in baseball among black players. Kershaw fever remains on hold at Fox Sports Net.

1:08 p.m.: "We know where his mom is sitting. She's directly below us in the second row, so we can watch her expressions and emotions as her son begins to crank it up." Vin then runs down Kershaw's vitals and names some other pitchers who have debuted at Kershaw's age or younger, some examples more encouraging than others (David Clyde!), all the way to Joe Nuxhall.

First inning
Skip Schumacher
0-0 94 fastball high and inside, ball one
1-0 94 fastball strike
1-1 94 fastball fouled back
1-2 75 curveball grounded foul
1-2 95 fastball fouled back
1-2 74 curveball grounded foul
1-2 95 fastball shoulder-high swung on and missed (wild applause from mom) "fastball that just exploded around the letters" Ball goes to the dugout to save, Kershaw smiles, everyone giddy.

Brian Barton
0-0 95 fastball high
1-0 94 fastball very high
2-0 93 fastball just outside
3-0 93 high and outside "And maybe Kershaw overthrowing a bit following the emotional strikeout of Schumacher.

Albert Pujols
"Mr. Kershaw, Mr. Pujols. Mr. Pujols, Mr. Kershaw."
0-0 93 fastball high and inside
1-0 72 curveball drops low
2-0 94 fastball swung on and missed
2-1 94 fastball called strike
2-2 73 curvevall down and inside
3-2 96 fastball fouled away
3-2 96 fastball fouled away
3-2 73 curveball pulled just inside third and down the line for an RBI double

Ryan Ludwick
0-0 74 curveball called strike
0-1 97 fastball low
1-1 98 fastball ignored Pujols running, pitch fouled away
1-2 75 curveball grounded foul
1-2 97 fastball fouled back
1-2 95 fastball very high
2-2 73 curveball grounded foul
2-2 96 fastball low and outside
3-2 97 fastball at the knees swung on and missed

Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 73 curveball lollipop high
1-1 96 fastball swung on and missed
1-2 75 curveball right in there strike three called "Clayton Kershaw strikes out the side in his major league debut, albeit he did allow a run."

First inning pitch count: a whopper - 32 pitches, 12 balls, 20 strikes.

Bottom of the first: Luis Maza hits his first major league home run and only the second by a Dodger second baseman since April 15. Cardinals 1, Dodgers 1.

Second inning
Jason LaRue
0-0 93 fastball low
1-0 93 fastball groundout 6-3

Cesar Izturis
0-0 93 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 83 changeup outside
1-1 94 fastball fouled back
1-2 74 curveball grounded foul
1-2 93 fastball inside
2-2 95 fastball high
3-2 94 fastball grounded to Loney unassisted putout

Todd Wellemeyer
0-0 92 fastball called strike
0-1 93 fastball called strike at knees
0-2 74 curveball swung on and missed, putout 2-3

Second inning pitch count: 12 pitches, 4 balls, eight strikes
Two-inning totals: 44 pitches, 16 balls, 28 strikes, one hit, one walk, four strikeouts

Bottom of the second: Dodgers go down in order.

Third inning
The sun has broken through the clouds.
Brendan Ryan
0-0 93 fastball fouled back
0-1 84 changeup low
1-1 95 fastball fouled back
1-2 73 curveball hanging, grounded to the hole in short for a clean infield single

Skip Schumacher
pickoff attempt #1
0-0 93 fastball low
1-0 93 fastball just low
2-0 92 fastball called strike
pickoff attempt #2
2-1 91 fastball chopper to short, 6-4-3 double play

Brian Barton
0-0 95 fastball high
1-0 93 fastball popped to right field, Andre Ethier catches.

Third inning pitch count: 10 pitches, four balls, six strikes
Three-inning totals: 54 pitches, 20 balls, 34 strikes, two hits, one walk, four strikeouts

Bottom of the third: Kershaw bats with one out. He twirls the bat in a fashion that calls to mind David Letterman twirling a pen on his fingers. He grounds to short. Dodgers go down in order. Cardinals 1, Dodgers 1.

Fourth inning
Albert Pujols
0-0 86 changeup low
1-0 94 fastball fouled back
1-1 84 changeup grounded foul
1-2 86 changeup grounded out to short

Ryan Ludwick
0-0 73 curveball called strike
0-1 94 fastball swung on and missed
0-2 95 fastball at shoulders swung on and missed

Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball outside
1-0 85 changeup called strike
1-1 73 curveball just high
1-2 95 late swing, popped to short right, Maza with a catch looking into thte sun.

Fourth inning pitch count: 11 pitches, two balls, nine strikes
Four-inning totals: 65 pitches, 22 balls, 43 strikes, two hits, one walk, five strikeouts

Bottom of the fourth: With one out, Either singles and Martin doubles off the top of the center-field wall (less than four inches) to drive him in. A Loney groundout moves Martin to third, but a Kemp groundout strands him. Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1. Wellemeyer has thrown 67 pitches.

Fifth inning
Jason LaRue
0-0 93 fastball late swing but a single to right field

Cesar Izturis
0-0 92 fastball outside corner called strike
0-1 83 changeup grounded to second, Maza to Hu for the force, relay to first too late

Todd Wellemeyer
0-0 90 fastball showing bunt, taken for a strike
0-1 91 fastball bunt foul
0-2 92 fastball just outside
1-2 73 curveball bunted to Kershaw, throws to Loney for the out, Izturis takes second.

Brendan Ryan
0-0 85 changeup fouled off
0-1 74 curveball pulled sharply foul
0-2 96 fastball swung on and missed

Fifth inning pitch count: 10 pitches, one ball, nine strikes
Five-inning totals: 75 pitches, 23 balls, 52 strikes, three hits, one walk, six strikeouts, seven groundouts, two airouts. Kershaw has thrown a total of 43 pitches (11 balls and 32 strikes) in the past four innings.

Bottom of the fifth: Dodgers go down in order. Dodgers 2, Cardinals 1.

Sixth inning
Skip Schumacher
0-0 72 curveball called strike
0-1 95 fastball outside
1-1 93 low fastball fouled away
1-2 95 fastball called strike three

Brian Barton
0-0 84 changeup swung on and really missed
0-1 95 fastball called strike
0-2 94 fastball popped up behind first, Loney loses in sun, ball hits him in the head in fair territory

Albert Pujols
0-0 85 changeup grounded foul
0-1 96 fastball high
1-1 94 fastball strike at the knees
1-2 73 curveball misses
2-2 72 curveball lollipop high
3-2 95 fastball hit-and-run single to right field

Ryan Ludwick
Rick Honeycutt visits the mound. Cory Wade gets up in bullpen.
0-0 83 changeup high and outside
1-0 95 fastball grounded to third. DeWitt charges and fields. He throws home. A good throw gets him at the plate, but the throw is high and away from the runner, and Barton slides home. Fielder's choice, game tied 2-2.

Troy Glaus
0-0 95 fastball swung on and missed. Vin: "Good fastball. He's still throwing nice and easy."
0-1 95 fastball swung on and missed. "He's got plenty left in the tank," though pitch count limits will make this his last inning.
0-2 95 fastball high
1-2 95 fastball smashed foul, broken bat
1-2 75 curveball in dirt
2-2 95 fastball popped up to short right again, and again Maza with a tough catch

Jason LaRue
Kershaw at 96 pitches.
0-0 95 fastball strike
0-1 72 curveball called strike
0-2 94 fastball low
1-2 75 curveball barely fouled off
1-2 95 fastball inside
2-2 94 changeup hanging, fly out to left field

Sixth inning pitch count: 27 pitches, nine balls, 18 strikes
Six-inning totals: 102 pitches, 32 balls, 70 strikes, five hits, one walk, seven strikeouts, seven groundouts, four airouts.

Two hits came off curveballs; two hits came off fastballs.

Five strikeouts came on fastballs (four swinging); two strikeouts on curveballs (one swinging).

Bottom of the sixth: Pierre singles, and Maza sacrifices him to second base. Ethier flies to left field, but Martin goes down and drives an RBI single to left. Kershaw gives Pierre an intense high five in the dugout. Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2.

And the young lefty is done for the day.

Kershaw to Martin: "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

Top of the seventh: A walk, a stolen base, a throwing error and a sacrifice fly against the Dodger bullpen takes Kershaw out of the decision. Cardinals 3, Dodgers 3.

* * *

I stopped live-blogging this game after Kershaw left, and it went into the 10th inning. Relievers Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito combined for eight strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings, and Joe Beimel struck out the only batter he faced, giving the Dodgers 16 strikeouts in 10 innings.

Ethier drives in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th, and the day ends happily for the Dodgers and their fans.