Back at Dodger Stadium after a seven-game road trip that encompassed multiple rain delays and more waiting because of mechanical issues with their chartered flight home, the Los Angeles Dodgers were slow to get going in a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins.
As the Dodgers spun their wheels and failed to come up with timely hits, Hyun-Jin Ryu pushed through a difficult start — by his standards. The Dodgers didn’t exactly aid matters by committing two errors in a sixth consecutive game.
Though, neither of those ultimately came back to haunt them. After Joc Pederson booted a ground ball hit to his right, Ryu induced an inning-ending double play in the first. When Corey Seager inexplicably failed to field a routine grounder, Ryu retired the next two batters to end a scoreless sixth inning.
The Marlins scratched in the fourth on Jorge Alfaro’s double hit to the gap with with Harold Ramirez running on the pitch. That was the only run Ryu allowed forever, as he got through seven innings.
He tied a season high with three walks but punctuated the outing by striking out the side in his final inning of work. Ryu exited with a 2-1 lead the Marlins in some sense gifted to the Dodgers.
Rookie Zac Gallen pitched into the sixth inning for the first time in his career but it wound up marking the start of his undoing. Alex Verdugo led off with a single and walks by Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger later loaded the bases with one out.
Left-handed relief pitcher Jarlin Garcia entered to face Seager, and while he induced a potential double-play ball, the chopper to second base was not hit sharply enough. The force out tied the game.
Kiké Hernandez hit another ball to Starlin Castro that he bobbled, with the error allowing the Dodgers to take a decided lead. The play was bit of relief for Hernandez, who popped-out on a 3-0 pitch with two on and one out in the second inning.
With his last start cut short because of a rain delay, Kenta Maeda threw a scheduled inning out of the bullpen. He relied on a steady dose of sliders and struck out a pair in a perfect eighth inning to bridge the gap to Kenley Jansen, who struck out the side and converted his 24th save of the season in his first since appearance being struck by a comebacker.
