Steve Webb
MIAMI, FL — You have to hand it to the Marlins. They’re a scrappy bunch. For the second time in this four-game series, they took the much-better-on-paper Dodgers into extra innings on Monday night, and came within a pitch or two of walking them off. However, in the 10th inning, the Dodgers eked out a run and then got a monumental save from Chris Martin in the bottom of the frame to secure the win. The final tally in South Florida: Dodgers 3, Marlins 2. The Dodgers keep their series-winning ways alive and head into New York with momentum for an epic late summer match-up against the Mets.
Grove surrenders run in the first
Pressed into emergency service because Tony Gonsolin‘s trip to the IL, Dodgers starter Michael Grove was tested almost immediately. After the Dodgers went quietly in the top of the first, the Marlins gave Grove a rude welcome back to the big leagues. Leadoff man Joey Wendle banged a leadoff double on Grove’s second pitch of the ballgame. He moved to third on a flyball to center and then scored on a Brian Anderson infield out. Just like that, Grove was trailing in only his second big-league start.
Will Smith shows off that WBC power
After a scoreless second inning, the Dodgers broke through against the Marlins’ Pablo Lopez in the top of the third. Lopez got two quick outs, but Freddie Freeman ripped a solid single into right for his second hit of the game. Will Smith then dug in, fresh off the announcement earlier in the day that he would be joining his teammate Mookie Betts on Team USA in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He must have been feeling a little froggy because of it, as he absolutely crushed a center-cut four-seamer. It cleared the centerfield fence and landed amidst the shrubbery of the batters’ eye. It was Smith’s 19th long fly of the year, and staked the Dodgers to a 2-1 lead.
Marlins tie it up in the fourth
Michael Grove gave up a hard luck run in the bottom of the fourth, but it was enough to tie the ball game and deny him the win. With one out, Southern California native Garrett Cooper drilled a deep fly to right field. Playing in place of the resting Mookie Betts, Joey Gallo went back on the ball, but didn’t have a fantast read or route and it ended up bounded hard off the fence for a triple.
Grove got a ground ball for the second out, but his luck ran out right there. First baseman Lewin Diaz hit a wounded duck that sort of died on its way to center field. It dropped in for a single, and Cooper easily scored the tying run. Grove would get into the fifth inning before his night was over, but given the circumstances, the young pitcher acquitted himself rather well. Grove’s line for the game: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB 4 K.
Bats quiet as game goes into extras
After Smith’s blast in the third, the Dodgers’ offense went into the deep freeze for six innings. Between Lopez and the subsequent Marlin relievers, the Dodgers could never generate more than a hit or a walk or two in any inning, and never really threatened to do much through regulation play. Luckily, after Grove’s exit, the Dodgers’ pen came up equally big. After David Price was able to wiggle out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth, it was pretty much smooth sailing for the LA pitchers. Caleb Ferguson, Evan Phillips, Phil Bickford, and Craig Kimbrel all put up zeroes on the board. Manager Dave Roberts probably would have preferred not to use so many of his bullpen arms on the eve of the Mets series, but at least they got the job done. At the end of nine complete, the game headed into extras for the second time in the series.
Dodgers push one across in extras
As usual, the 10th inning began with a placed runner at second base. This time around it was Cody Bellinger who drew that duty, which put speed on the paths. The first hitter of the inning, Trea Turner, hit what seemed like the twelfth little nubber down the third base line that he’s hit this series. And as per usual, infielder Jon Berti had no play by the time he gathered in Turner’s roller. But, perhaps more importantly, because Berti had to field the ball, third base was left unattended, and Bellinger just waltzed to the bag behind Berti and suddenly the Dodgers had runners at the corners with nobody out.
Freddie Freeman came up with a chance to put the Dodgers back on top. And while it probably wasn’t his most shining moment in an LA uniform, he got the job done. With the Marlins playing the infield back, Freeman hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield. It wasn’t hit hard, so it was touch and go for a double play. As Freeman busted it down the line, Bellinger easily scored through the back door. The Marlins did nail Trea Turner at second, but Freeman beat out the throw for an RBI fielder’s choice. The rally sputtered after that, so the Dodgers took the field in the bottom of the tenth clinging to just a one run lead.
Martin saves the day (and the game) in the 10th
Because of the bullpen situation, Roberts tried to milk a two-inning save out of Craig Kimbrel, something he hasn’t done in Dodger uniform. Still, it wasn’t a crazy idea in that he’d looked pretty good in his 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th. The 10th inning, however, was an entirely different story.
Kimbrel took the leadoff hitter in the inning, Jon Berti, to a full count before losing him on a four-seamer that missed to the glove side. That put men and first and second with nobody out. Brian Anderson hit into a force play very similar to Freeman’s in the top half of the inning. The Marlins retired Jon Berti at second, but placed runner Joey Wendle advanced to third on the play. Kimbrel then walked a second batter in the inning to load up the bases with only one out.
Finally, Dave Roberts decided to throw in the sponge on Kimbrel’s night. It was a lot to ask for him to go two in this one, and Kimbrel just didn’t have it in him. So, that left it up to right-hander Chris Martin to try to at least get the game into the next inning. It was a tall order. With only one out, any number of scenarios could end up in a tie or even worse. But unlike his predecessor on the mound, Martin has the rep of throwing a lot of strikes, and man that was needed at that moment, with the bags juiced with Marlins.
A strikeout was exactly what was needed in that spot, and that was exactly what Martin delivered. Martin faced Garrett Cooper, and he painted the black with three straight pitches to get the backwards K and give the Dodgers a little more margin for error. The infield could relax a little bit and play normal depth for a bit and Martin stared in for the sign against catcher Jacob Stallings, who had been the Marlins’ most productive hitter over the last month.
Martin started off Stallings with a cutter for a strike, but then threw a lot of cheese. Stallings watched a couple fastballs miss high and fouled off a couple more to get the count to 2-2. Then, after five straight four-seamers, Martin went back to the cutter, and Stallings popped it up. As the ball landed harmlessly in the glove of Freddie Freeman in foul territory, Martin had officially performed the high-wire act and gotten the Dodgers into the clubhouse with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
Into Queens for a big series with the Mets
Now finished with the Marlins for the year, the Dodgers go up north to New York City for a (semi) critical series with the division leading Mets. If things stay as they stand right now, the Dodgers and Mets would be on a collision course to meet in the NLCS in late October. So, in that case, both Dave Roberts and Metropolitan manager Buck Showalter will be playing it close to the vest. So, this will be more like a sparring match than a heavyweight prizefight.
As such, we won’t be seeing Max Scherzer in this series. And, the Dodgers won’t be throwing their top of the rotation guys, either. So we’ll see. The whole thing gets started on Tuesday at 4:10 PDT. Andrew Heaney goes for the good guy and Taijuan Walker gets the ball for the Mets. So. Let’s do this.
