Pitching, Defense Not Sharp as Dodgers Drop Series to Fish

The best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw, faced-off against an ex-substitute teacher, Trevor Richards, as the Dodgers (11-11) took on the Miami Marlins (6-17) in the third game of the series yesterday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.  Though on paper this game seemed to have a landslide victory for the Dodgers written all over it, that would not be the case.  Richards, who was making only his fifth major league start and is 0-2 on the season with a 4.94 ERA and 1.521 WHIP, looked like he would be a dead Marlin in the water matching up with baseball’s best; however, Kershaw has not been performing at his normal elite level as he would be tagged with his fourth loss on the season.

5th Inning

Kershaw started the game striking out the side in the top of the 1st, appearing as if he were going to pitch another stellar game; however, he would load the bases in the 2nd and the 4th innings and, luckily, escape any damage.  In the top of the 5th, though, the Marlins would  draw consecutive two-out walks by Justin Bour and Cameron Maybin.  That would bring Miguel Rojas to the dish who would drill a three-run home run to give the Fish a 3-0 lead.  Kershaw would get Lewis Brinson to strike out to end the inning but his night would be finished after tossing 5.0 innings allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and a career-high 6 walks while striking out 7.

6th Inning

The newly acquired Daniel Hudson would come in relief in the top of the 6th but would surrender a solo home run to the red-hot J.T. Realmuto increasing the lead 4-0.

The Dodgers would get a run back in the bottom of the 6th beginning with a lead-off walk to Corey Seager followed by a one-out single by Cody Bellinger.  Two batters later, Joc Pederson would rope a line drive to right field scoring Seager and cutting the deficit to 4-1.

8th Inning

Scott Alexander would come in relief in the top of the 8th and would struggle early surrendering a lead-off single to J.B. Shuck.  Two batters later, Realmuto would come to the plate and hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot that would extend the lead 6-1.

The Dodgers would not go down without a fight, though, and would cut the deficit in half with a two-out double by Bellinger followed by a two-run homer by Matt Kemp making it 6-3.

9th Inning

The defense would struggle in the top of the 9th giving up two runs on two fielding errors by Seager and Utley that would give the Marlins an 8-3 lead.

Those errors would prove costly as the Dodgers would get three runs in the bottom of the 9th that started with a lead-off triple by Kike Hernandez followed by a fielder’s choice ground out by Kyle Farmer that would score Hernandez and make it 8-4.  Two batters later, Seager would reach on a single followed by a two-run shot by Yasmani Grandal to make it 8-6.

Unfortunately, the rally would stop there as Bellinger would ground out to end the game.

The Dodgers (11-12) will have Thursday off as they head to San Francisco for a four-game series, including a double-header on Saturday.  They will look to bounce back with Hyun-Jin Ryu taking the mound Friday night facing Derek Holland beginning at 7:15pm PST.

BakoBoyInBlue