The Sports Xchange
May 21, 2017
LOS ANGELES -- Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and drove in three runs, and Brandon McCarthy retired the first 14 batters and threw six sharp innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 6-3 on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers (26-19) won three of the four games in the series and stayed on the heels of the Colorado Rockies in the National League West. Los Angeles has won 11 of 16 games.
Meanwhile, the Marlins (15-28) lost for the 11th time in 13 games. They are 5-20 in their last 25.
Gonzalez had been nursing an elbow injury since he played for Mexico during the World Baseball Classic. He tried rest and therapy into May and finally reluctantly decided to go on the disabled list. He had a brief rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City before being activated Thursday.
Gonzalez had gone 1,833 games without going on the DL, the longest stretch by any active player. He still has not hit a home run, but he turned aggressively on all three of his hits Sunday.
Yasmani Grandal also had three hits for the Dodgers, who finished with 12 hits, seven for extra bases.
McCarthy (4-1) pitched quickly and beautifully. He had a perfect game through 4 2/3 innings before Derek Dietrich doubled, then lost his shutout when A.J. Ellis followed with a RBI single.
In the sixth, the Marlins had two on with two outs, but McCarthy got Marcell Ozuna and Giancarlo Stanton to ground out to shortstop to end the rally.
The Dodgers led 4-1 in the sixth when they put the game out of reach with two runs. Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch, Enrique Hernandez doubled, and pinch hitter Brett Eibner stroked a single to left for a 6-1 lead.
The Marlins made it 6-2 in the eighth, Ozuna singling home Dee Gordon, and Justin Bour hit his 11th home run in the ninth against Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen.
The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the second thanks to Gonzalez, who slugged a one-hop double off the low wall in right field to score two runs.
The rally started with two outs as Cody Bellinger singled to right field off Miami starter Vance Worley (0-1). Grandal followed with a double to left-center to put runners in scoring position. Gonzalez turned on a high fastball for his second hit since returning.
Pederson, who hit 25 home runs in 2016, hit his second of the season in the fourth, a solo shot to right that barely cleared the top of Miami's bullpen gate. The Dodgers used the duo of Grandal and Gonzalez for a run again in the fifth. Grandal doubled into the left-field corner for his third hit and scored on Gonzalez's third hit, a single to left-center.
NOTES: The Dodgers sent LHP Julio Urias, their 20-year prodigy who has been handled carefully since making his debut last season, to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday morning after his worse effort of his major league career in a 10-6 loss to Miami on Saturday. He allowed seven runs (six earned) in 2 1/3 innings, the shortest start of his career. He is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA. ... The Dodgers recalled RHP Josh Ravin from Oklahoma. Ravin began the season on the disabled list with a groin injury. ... The Dodgers are expected to activate INF Logan Forsythe from the disabled list and a rehab assignment on Tuesday. He will will likely fill in at third base while Justin Turner rehabs from his strained hamstring. ... The Marlins sent RHP Odrisamer Despaigne to the minors and purchased the contract of Sunday's starter, RHP Vance Worley. The Marlins signed Worley after he was released by Washington before the beginning of the season.