In just a little while I am going to jump on BART, head into San Francisco and meet up with my friends for some food and beverages before the series finale with the Giants.

I'll have plenty more to say about this game when I get home later tonight, or early tomorrow, but for now here are some things I will be looking for against Tim Lincecum.

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, it's the late-inning relief.

I understand that the media loves the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry, because it's New York and Boston and in the past six years it has been pretty heated.

But I can't take it when somebody calls it the best rivalry in sports. It's not even the best rivalry in baseball, let alone sports. The best rivalry in baseball, and perhaps all of sports, is the Dodgers v. Giants.

Has anyone in the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry ever looked like Ralph Branca did, sitting on those steps after allowing one of the most famous home runs in baseball history?

I seriously, seriously doubt it.

There was a time, not long ago, that five runs in a game meant a Dodger win. Period.

Nowadays, that is not the case; and it's not going to be. We, as Dodger fans, must get used to it.

Let's take a look at the Dodgers top prospects and how they are doing early on.

I have a hunch the Dodgers aren't going to lose too many games at Dodger stadium this year.

I always get a good feeling when they play at home, and I feel even more confident for 2009.

The Dodgers didn't have much luck with their two most recent first-round draft picks staying healthy last season, but 2009 seems to one of promise for Chris Withrow and Ethan Martin.

After dealing with a variety of problems last season, 2007 first-round draft pick Chris Withrow seems to be healthy.

After pitching a total of 13 innings since being drafted, Withrow is pitching for Single-A Advanced Inland Empire and made a start against Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday and tossed five hitless innings, striking out six.

When can a pitcher's 11 strikeout performance get overshadowed? When someone else does something no Dodger ever has.

Why is Russell Martin still batting fifth in the Dodgers lineup?

We all know that Joe Torre can be stubborn to the point of it being a fault, evidenced by Blake DeWitt going 1-for-13 in the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Philly had two left-handers on the mound, while Hall of Famer Jeff Kent rode the bench.

I think that Torre is a great manager, and he is usually good at sticking with a guy, but there are times to make a change.

This is one of those times, but apparently Torre doesn't think so. Martin is still in the same spot for today's home opener against the Giants.

Martin is 4-for-24 this year, batting .167, and has done it all hitting in the No. 5 spot. He's driven in just five runs, and has left 22 men on base all by himself.

It may seem strange to talk about it hours after Randy Wolf delivered a pitching performance that was absolutely necessary, and, to put it bluntly, he was fantastic.

But, Dodger fans know that pitching is a bit of an issue and will continue to be unless something else is done to address the staff.

The ninth inning of Thursday's San Diego was a microcosm of the four-game series against the San Diego Padres.

Let's take a look inside the series:

Just a quick note to the baseball community out there. It was very saddening to hear the news of Nick Adenhart's death this morning.

Not just that he's a baseball player (it certainly adds to it) but it's the fact he's a 22-year old just starting out in his career. He was a young man with a lot of promise.

I have a good friend who is an Angels fan, and he was more shook up than he thought he would be. I completely understand. I would be the same way if it was one of my guys. My heart goes out to the Angels organization and community, and to Adenhart's friends and family.

It was a textbook win for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Chad Billingsley was sharp over six innings (very, very sharp for four of them) and the big rally was centered around Manny Ramirez as the Dodgers won a very tidy 5-2 game on Wednesday night.

Simply stated, Chad Billingsley needs to be sharp in a couple of hours at Petco Park.

The Dodgers cannot afford to lose two games in a row to a team that will finish among the worst in the Major Leagues, and Billingsley needs to be the catalyst on Wednesday night.

Sure, this team has a talented offense and it would be fair to ask the guys in the lineup to kick it up a notch, but a little more needs to be expected out of the starting pitching.

For the first two games, the starting pitching has been mediocre, and you could maybe even consider it poor when you consider they received just 11 innings combined out of Hiroki Kuroda and Randy Wolf.

Sure, Kuroda pitched well enough for five innings, but hit a wall and put Joe Torre in a situation where he had to lean on the bullpen and bail him out.

Wolf really wasn't sharp at all, and gave up four runs in the 5 1/3 innings he lasted on Tuesday night.

On Opening Day of the 2009 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked more like the team from 2008; by scoring just enough runs to win and relying on quality pitching to seal the deal.

The Braves and Phillies play tonight, and the official Opening Day is tomorrow, which means the Dodgers are what they are at this point.

Don't expect any more major moves for the time being, so with the roster pretty set, let's take a look at the Dodgers for the 2009 season.

It's April 1, and at this point the Dodgers pitching staff is what it is.

Is everybody comfortable with that? Does anyone have any concerns?

My answers: No I'm not comfortable, and yes, I have concerns. I even have concerns about our hard-throwing closer to our left who has seemed invincible over the past two seasons during the eighth inning of ball game's.

Broxton had a bit of a rough time in the World Baseball Classic and has been one of many Dodgers still looking to get untracked in the last few days of Spring Training.

It's safe to say that very few Dodger pitchers have found their groove thus far.