It wasn’t pretty, but for the second consecutive night, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins, this time behind a three-run game-winning home run from Matt Beaty in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Dodgers got on the scoreboard early as Joc Pederson hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first. The blast was his 23rd of the season, and Pederson now has 16 career leadoff homers, with five coming this season.
Los Angeles broke the game open in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring five more runs to extend their lead to 6-0. Austin Barnes contributed with a two-run double, while Clayton Kershaw helped out his own cause with an RBI single in a three-run fourth.
Justin Turner then launched his 13th home run off the season to straightaway center field off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara in the fifth. Max Muncy went to the opposite field for a run-scoring double to cap off the rally.
All those runs were enough for Kershaw, who turned in one of his best outings of the season. The lefty struck out a season-high 10 batters in six shutout innings, allowing just two hits while walking one.
He left with a sizable lead and looked to be in line for his ninth victory of the season, although the Dodgers bullpen had other plans as they allowed a run in the seventh inning and five more in the eighth, resulting in a tie game.
That set the stage for Beaty’s game-winner, with contributions from Corey Seager hitting a double and Barnes walking in front of him with one out in the eighth. As he has done on so many occasions this season, Beaty stayed calm and launched a three-run home run to right-center field to put the Dodgers back out in front for good.
In Beaty’s short time with the Dodgers, three of his five home runs have come in close games in the seventh inning or later. He is hitting .370 in those situations. Beaty additionally has three home runs in three games since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
