The Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff was unable to shut down a light-hitting Miami Marlins team in an 11-9 loss to open the series.
Bobby Miller was back on the mound, perhaps in what was a make-or-break game for him after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts would not commit to the right-hander staying in the rotation after Tuesday.
Miller did not step up to the moment as he went just two innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with just two strikeouts and one walk before exiting the game.
Miller allowed three straight singles to open the game, giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead. A fourth single, this time with one out, made it 2-0 Marlins.
They went on to load the base with another single before Miller finally got out of the inning by getting a pop up.
In the second inning, Nick Fortes doubled to lead it off and Connor Norby worked a walk. Jesus Sanchez then singled home another run and Jake Burger grounded into a force out that made it 4-0 Marlins.
Michael Grove entered in the third and ended up pitching 1.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits with one walk and no strikeouts to give the Marlins seven runs. Alex Vesia took over in the fourth with two outs and allowed the inherited runner to score, which was credited to Grove.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning when the Dodgers pitching staff had their first scoreless frame, which was tossed by Vesia. But that zero on the scoreboard changed in the sixth inning when the Marlins scored two more, this time against Ryan Brasier, to put them at nine runs for the game.
Brusdar Graterol pitched the first 1-2-3 inning for the Dodgers in the seventh, but the Marlins added on in the eighth with a two-run homer against Daniel Hudson to make it an 11-7 game.
The Dodgers offense did have a strong game, just not enough to win the game.
Shohei Ohtani started the scoring with a two-run homer in the third inning to drive in Hunter Feduccia. Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández each followed with a single before Max Muncy doubled to tie the game, 4-4.
After the Marlins re-took the lead, Miguel Rojas tied it at 5-5 with a solo home run in the fourth inning. Mookie Betts opened the fifth with a leadoff triple and scored on a sacrifice fly from Freeman to make it 7-6.
Trailing 9-6 in the seventh, Muncy drove in Freeman with an RBI single. Trailing 11-7 in the ninth, Muncy drove in two more runs to make it an 11-9 game.
Muncy ended his day with five RBI.
Shohei Ohtani sets new MLB record
Ohtani slugged his 48th home run of the season against Marlins pitcher Darren McCaughan. That homer gave Ohtani 219 for his career, making him MLB’s all-time home run leader among Asian-born players.
Shin Soo-Choo, who was born in Busan, South Korea, held the record with 218 prior to Ohtani taking it over. Over his 16-year career, Choo hit 114 for the Texas Rangers, 83 for the then-Cleveland Indians, 21 for the Cincinnati Reds and none for the Seattle Mariners.
For Ohtani, it took him just seven seasons to set the record, blasting 171 over six seasons with the Angels before hitting 48 thus far with the Dodgers.
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