After dropping their five previous matchups against the Miami Marlins this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers broke through for a win Saturday. The rubber match at Marlins Park on Sunday afternoon saw Andre Ethier make his first start of the season.
Jose Urena tossed a 1-2-3 first, ending the inning by striking out Corey Seager swinging. Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. But he was quickly erased as Kenta Maeda fielded his position well to start a double play.
Martin Prado then lined out to center field, and Maeda was through the inning on just four pitches. Urena was nearly as efficient in the second, needing just seven pitches to retire the side in order.
After a quick bottom of the second, Urena again tossed a 1-2-3 inning to remain perfect through three innings. The Marlins didn’t generate any success against Maeda as he continued to do his part in the pitchers’ duel and faced the minimum after three innings.
Chase Utley, Josh Reddick and Seager all made contact in the fourth inning. Only for it to amount to a pair of fly outs and a groundout. Maeda’s string of consecutive batters retired was snapped at nine when Ichiro Suzuki blooped a single into center field in the bottom of the fourth.
Martin Prado followed with a base hit of his own, giving the Marlins runners on first and second with one out. Christian Yelich added to Miami’s string of hits with an RBI single to left-center field. Justin Bour’s sacrifice fly extended the Marlins’ lead to 2-0.
A pair of infield singles loaded the bases, but Maeda didn’t allow it to lead to any further damage as he induced Adeiny Hechavarrai into a fly out. Urena’s perfect game ended on a Joc Pederson two-out base hit in the fifth inning. But it didn’t lead to anything for the Dodgers as Ethier flied out.
Prado led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left field. He went first to third base on Yelich’s one-hop single to right field that Reddick booted. Reddick quickly recovered and relayed the ball to Seager, who threw wide of first base, allowing Prado to score.
Maeda limited the damage to just one run and got through the sixth inning in consecutive starts for the first time since June 3 and 8. Seager and Gonzalez connected on back-to-back singles in the seventh, but Yasmani Grandal hit into an inning-ending double play.
Luis Avilan worked around a Urena leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh to toss a scoreless frame out of the bullpen. After pitching into the seventh inning for just the second time in his young career, Urena retired the Dodgers in order in the eighth.
He wasn’t able to put the finishing touches on a career day as Reddick’s two-out base hit knocked Urena out of the game. A.J. Ramos entered and shut the door in the Marlins’ 3-0 victory.
