Clayton Kershaw battled expected rust in his first Major League start since late June, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were largely held in check at the plate. That resulted in the Miami Marlins coming away with a 4-1 victory that snapped the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak.
In addition, Miami improved to 5-0 against Los Angeles this season. The Marlins face a southpaw for the second time in as many games with Rich Hill starting for the Dodgers ons Saturday night.
Hill is 2-0 and has thrown 12 scoreless innings in his two starts with the Dodgers. He’s only allowed six hits, none of which have gone for extra bases, and has 11 strikeouts.
Hill lost a no-hitter with one out in the sixth inning of his last outing. Though, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he wasn’t going to allow the veteran to remain in the game beyond the sixth even if a no-hitter was still intact.
Miami counters with Tom Koehler, who enters 9-10 with a 3.87 ERA, 4.13 FIP and 1.41 WHIP in 28 starts. He’s a pedestrian 4-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 12 home starts this season.
Koehler faced the Dodgers on April 26 and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in just five innings. Despite the relatively short outing and walking four batters, Koehler earned the win. He’s gone at least six innings in eight of his past nine starts.
For the first time since the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers have Yasiel Puig and Josh Reddick in the same lineup. The former starts in left field, while the latter is in his usual right field.
Puig’s last start in left field came as a rookie on June 25, 2013. He’s batting .400/.500/1.000 with two home runs and five RBI in five games (three starts) since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Puig is 1-for-7 with one home run and three RBI in his career against Koehler.
Reddick has also fared well at the plate recently, and enters play with a seven-game hitting streak. He’s posted four multi-hit games and is batting .600/.619/.850 with two doubles, one home run and three RBI during that span.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Howie Kendrick
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Josh Reddick
LF: Yasiel Puig
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Rich Hill
Marlins lineup:
2B: Dee Gordon
1B: Xavier Scruggs
3B: Martin Prado
CF: Christian Yelich
RF: Marcell Ozuna
LF: Jeff Francoeur
C: Jeff Mathis
SS: Adeiny Hechavarria
P: Tom Koehler
