Dodgers Over Marlins in Series Opener – 5/14/21
Dodgers Over Marlins in Series Opener – Game Recap – 5/14/21
Dodgers got their two-game sweep against the Mariners and then got the day off on Thursday. With the second off day this week, the Dodgers were coming into this game well-rested. It was Kershaw Day, and the offense looked like it found its groove in the last series. The Dodgers were welcoming the Marlins to town who they had yet to face this season. With Kershaw and Sandy Alcántara on the mound, the stage was set for a pitchers duel, but that certainly wasn’t the case. Dodgers win over the Marlins to open the series.
Batting Around in the Eight, Muncy Extends Home Run Streak
The Dodgers offense came out swinging their bats against Alcántara in the second inning. Taylor led off the inning with a walk. Then the fun started. Lux followed that up with a double, putting two on for Pollock, who singled in the game’s first run. Barnes hit a shot that barely clipped the top of the wall and bounced back into play for an RBI double. Unfortunately, Pollock came out of the game with a re-agitated hamstring injury. This was Pollock’s first start since injuring it last Friday, and when he ran first to third on Barnes’ double, the training staff must’ve seen something as they wanted him out of the game.
Beaty took over at third for Pollock, and the scoring kept on going with Kershaw’s base hit! Dodgers led 3-0 with no outs for Alcántara. Betts doubled home a run, and Seager followed him up with an RBI base hit of his own. Dodgers held a 5-0 lead, and Alcántara finally earned an out when he struck out Turner. But Max Muncy, who has been on FIRE, cleared the bases with his third game in a row with a home run. Dodgers were up 8-0 and it was only the 2nd inning.
Marlins Cut The Lead in Half
During the Dodgers’ hot inning, Kershaw spent 35 minutes on the bench before heading back out in the third. It didn’t take long for the Marlins to score some runs of their own. A couple of hits made it an 8-1 game, but Adam Duvall’s three-run home run made this an 8-4 game by the end of the inning. Marlins added one more run in the fifth after a couple of doubles, but Kershaw did a good job setting down the next two batters stranding two in scoring position. It wasn’t Kershaw’s best day on the mound, but he battled and set a new season-high in strikeouts with 11. He left the game after the sixth inning and gave the bullpen a three-run lead to work with.
Santana Struggling Again
Treinen came on in the 7th and pitched a 1-2-3 inning with some help from Mookie in center. Things got a little stressful in the 8th when Santana retired the first two batters of the inning and then gave up back-to-back hits and walked a guy to load the bases. González came into take over and hit the first batter he saw, making this a 9-6 Dodgers lead. He ended up striking out Berti to end the inning, but things definitely got a little shaky there in the 8th.
Jansen came in to shut things down in the 9th, and he did just that. Topping out at 97 MPH twice tonight. The Dodgers have now won three in a row, and the offense seems to be consistently hitting the ball hard. Kershaw wasn’t his best, but the offense had his back, and the bullpen was able to close it out. Dodgers win over the Marlins 6-9.
They’ll look to keep their winning ways going tomorrow when Bauer takes the mound at 6:10 PM PDT.
To read about the sweep over the Marlins, click here.
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