More than one year later the four-game sweep at home still resonated with Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. On Thursday night, his team helped erase some of the “sour taste” by defeating the Miami Marlins. But, it may have come at a significant cost.
Justin Turner pulled up lame while rounding third base in the seventh inning, sustaining an apparent hamstring injury. It put a late damper to what otherwise was a generally positive night.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning, behind three consecutive singles off Edinson Volquez. Justin Bour made a terrific diving stop to rob Cody Bellinger of a hit, though a run scored on the play.
Giancarlo Stanton led off the second inning with a double that banged off the wall in left field. He was erased from the bases soon after on an attempt to advance to third on a ball that kicked away from Yasmani Grandal.
The play loomed large, as Bour followed with a home run. Hyun-Jin Ryu stranded J.T. Realmuto after he hit a one-out double.
Yasiel Puig’s two-run home run, his team-leading eighth homer this season, gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second. With Ryu on second base after knocking a double, Chase Utley delivered an RBI base hit.
The Marlins got one run back in the third, on a Christian Yelich home run. It marked Ryu’s third start this season with multiple home runs surrendered. Turner walked and stole second base with one out in the bottom of the third inning.
Adrian Gonzalez announced his return from the disabled list with an RBI single that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2. Ryu was hit by a pitch in on his right biceps while squaring around to bunt in the bottom of the fourth, and took a grounder off his leg in the sixth.
He was removed with two on and one out in the sixth inning. Chris Hatcher took over and struck out both batters faced to preserve the Dodgers’ three-run lead. The book closed on Ryu at 5.1 innings pitched, with two runs allowed on seven hits (two home runs), one walk, three strikeouts and one hit by pitch.
Luis Avilan picked up where Hatcher left off, striking out the side in the seventh inning. The string of strikeouts by Dodgers reliever was snapped when Josh Fields walked Yelich to start the eighth.
Fields also walked Marcell Ozuna before retiring the next two batters faced. Kenley Jansen then took over and struck out the quartet batters faced to covert a fourth four-out save this season. He completed the immaculate inning in the ninth.
With where the Dodgers were at in their lineup, Jansen had an opportunity to bat for himself in the bottom of the eighth. He reached on a one-out single that loaded the bases. It was Jansen’s first hit since Aug. 31, 2010. Utley’s sacrifice fly provided the power closer with additional breathing room.
A Chris Taylor walk with the bases loaded extended the Dodgers’ lead to 7-2, which held as the final score.
