Clayton Kershaw pushed himself through another short start and Ryan Yarbrough allowed back-to-back home runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 6-3 to the Miami Marlins, who extended their winning streak to five games.
The Dodgers provided Kershaw with a lead in the third inning behind two-out RBI singles from Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. It was an encouraging development for Freeman after a relatively quiet series against his former Atlanta Braves teammates.
For Smith, he’s looking to get back on track since falling into a slump after the All-Star break.
The Marlins began to cut into their deficit when Jake Burger hit a solo home run off Kershaw in the fourth inning. The homer was Burger’s seventh of his career in just 10 games against the Dodgers.
Miami continued to threaten in the inning on Jazz Chisholm’s infield single and a Garrett Hampson walk. That prompted some movement in the Dodgers bullpen, but Kershaw escaped the threat by inducing his second inning-ending double play of the game.
Despite pitching with diminished fastball velocity and laboring throughout the start, Kershaw remained in the game for the fifth inning. He issued a fifth walk in the game, tying season and career highs, and leading to Josh Bell’s go-ahead home run.
Kershaw managed to get through five innings for a fifth time in six starts since coming off the 15-day injured list. The lone exception was an outing cut short at two innings because of inclement weather at Progressive Field causing a rain delay and ultimately the game being suspended.
The 84 pitches Kershaw threw were his most since returning from a left shoulder injury that he continues to be plagued by to some degree.
Chris Taylor pulled the Dodgers even with a leadoff home run in the seventh inning, but after initially providing the Dodgers with scoreless work, Yarbrough surrendered back-to-back long balls to Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the bottom of the eighth that gave the Marlins their decided lead.
Dodgers lose Austin Barnes; Max Muncy unavailable
Max Muncy was not in the lineup or available off the bench Tuesday as he continues to recover from what’s believed to be a minor left shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, Austin Barnes was removed in the eighth, one inning after being struck in the side of the head by Nick Fortes’ backswing.
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