The Dodgers spotted the Fish a 10-0 lead yesterday en route to 10-6 loss. Fresh in a lot of Dodgers memories was the 4-game sweep that the Marlins handed the Dodgers last season in Don Mattingly’s return to Dodger Stadium. Brandon McCarthy was on the mound to rebound the Dodgers from yesterdays loss.
Vance Worley was on the mound for the Marlins. So in other words, this should be a game the Dodgers handle. A sight for sore eyes when Adrian Gonzalez started the scoring the 1st inning as he doubled in Cody Bellinger and Yasmani Grandal. McCarthy kept the Marlins bats at bay most of the game. A rare appearance by Joc Pederson in the bottom of the Fourth inning as he hit a solo shot to extend the Dodgers lead to 3-0.
Mccarthy surrendered his first hit in the top of the 5th inning so he was on cruise control. Former Dodger Aj Ellis got his first RBI as a Marlin to put the fish on the board in the 5th inning. Yasmani Grandal continued his hot hitting with a double in the bottom of the fifth. Adrian Gonzalez then singled him in to continue his torrid day to make the score 4-1.
Brett Eibner who has been solid since coming on singled in 2 in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 6-1. It’s nice to see Grandal, Gonzalez, and Pederson get hits. The Dodgers will need them especially with Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe out. The bullpen handled the game from their. The only blemish was Kenley Jansen giving up a home run in the 9th. Alex Wood and Brandon McCarthy have been terrific this season to help out the starting rotation. They just need Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda to get going. McCarthy improved to 4-1 on season with 3.76 Era.
The Diamondbacks lost today so the Dodgers have tied them for 2nd place in the NL West and are 2 games behind the Rockies for first place. They will have tomorrow off and play the NL Central the rest of the week as they will entertain the Cardinals and the Cubs.
James Moya
Hi I’m James Moya. I am an avid Dodgers fan. I graduated Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors in Communications. I used to freelance at the San Bernardino Sun. I’m excited about this opportunity to write for LA Dodger Report to gain experience. I’m a straight shooter on my opinions and I hope to get some good conversations going. My dream has always been to report on the Dodgers because Baseball is the National Past-time. I hope you enjoy the ride with me.
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One thread at a time guys.
It’s the Marlins. We took care of business at home against a last place club. Worley is nothing more than a #1 in the batting practice rotation. The Cardinals are obviously a better test, though they are only 5-5 in their last 10. We’re looking pretty good right now, with both Wood and McDL pitching well. If they can both finish as they have started, we will likely walk to the playoffs again. Second place is actually an accomplishment considering who we’ve lost already.
The Dodgers are experimenting with using outfielder Brett Eibner as a pitcher, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes. Eibner pitched in college and reached 95 MPH with his fastball, and he’s now working on developing secondary pitches; it remains to be seen, of course, how those would play against big-leaguers. The Dodgers’ plan is to continue to treat Eibner primarily as an outfielder, but they envision using him as a pitcher more frequently than the typical position player taking the mound to relieve an exhausted staff. If Eibner were to prove effective as a pitcher, he’d become a useful and interesting tactical piece, reminiscent, perhaps, of a two-way player like Brooks Kieschnick, who first arrived in the big leagues as an outfielder but who also ended up pitching for Milwaukee in 2003 and 2004. The added versatility might also help Eibner from being shipped back and forth to Triple-A so frequently, Shaikin suggests — the Dodgers have already optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City four times this season. Here’s more from around the game.
Damn. Another Brooks Kieschnick. Who could forget that guy?
If he can throw 95 for strikes it might work. Does he have any other pitches? If he doesnt Major League hitters will hit that cheese a very long way.
Is this invention or invention’s mother? I believe it was Euripides who said – “nothing has more strength than dire necessity”. I for one do not want to see Eibner pitching. I’d rather see him make consistent contact.
Could be he’s another Baez. I hope he’s a hitter instead.
If all he has is 95, it would be worse than Baez. Baez throws 97 and has other pitches now. It would appear he doesn’t have much confidence in them yet, but I’ve seen him throw a few for strikes. He has a slider (87 mph) and a change (88 mph). He also has a sinker that he doesn’t throw often enough, but he’s learning. Does Eibner throw anything other that 95 fastball? It’s impressive but I’d rather he use that arm in center field. I haven’t seen enough of him out there to know if he’s any good, but I’ve seen enough at bats to believe if he figures it out he’s Matt Kemp up there. If he doesn’t, then yeah sure, teach him an off speed pitch he can command and put him in the bullpen. We are going to need help down there.
Next 9 games will go a long way to showing how good, or how over rated this team is. 3 with the Cards, 3 with the Cubs then on to St Loo….