Stanton leads way as Marlins best Kershaw

LOS ANGELES -- Giancarlo Stanton's three-run homer capped a five-run sixth inning off Clayton Kershaw as the Marlins stormed back to beat the Dodgers, 6-3, on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
Stanton, a native of Sherman Oaks, Calif., has 12 home runs and 29 RBIs in 31 career games against his former hometown team.
"He was dominating early, so you get the sense he was going to take this game with him, and call it a night," Stanton said. "But how quickly you can turn things around like that is a big plus."
Kershaw (2-1), who struck out 10 in seven innings, had a one-hitter going with one out in the sixth inning when former teammate Miguel Rojas looped a soft double to left. That was the first of five consecutive Marlins hits (a career first for Kershaw), the last being Stanton's blast to center on a fastball down the middle that should have been inside.
"That's a tough one to let get away," said Kershaw. "We had a 3-0 lead. My job is to keep it, and I didn't do my job there. Got to do a better job limiting the damage. I obviously missed my spot with Stanton, and that's what he does, makes you pay for stuff like that. And I gave up some two-strike hits. Everything you're not supposed to do, I kind of did that inning."
"Obviously, it's good to be on this side of it," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of getting to Kershaw. "It doesn't happen too often."
All three Dodgers runs reached base via walks issued by winning starter Tom Koehler, who walked four in five innings. Two scored in the first inning without a base hit thanks to a pair of wild pitches, and the third Dodgers run was doubled home by Kershaw, who also singled.
"[Kershaw] put the best at-bats, it seemed like, all night," manager Dave Roberts said. "Without those at-bats, I don't know how much offense we had. [Marlins starter Tom] Koehler wasn't sharp early and gifted us a couple runs. We just got to get back to swinging at strikes, taking balls, and I think you look at the quality of at-bats, that's something up and down the lineup that we got to get better at."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Stanton stays hot: Stanton's laser, three-run homer off Kershaw capped a five-run sixth inning and marked the third straight game in which the three-time All-Star right fielder has gone deep. Stanton got all of Kershaw's 94-mph fastball, two innings after the Dodgers' lefty struck him out with a tantalizing 74-mph curveball. The shot to center, projected by Statcast™ to land 433 feet away, with an exit velocity of 109 mph. Stanton's longest career home run streak is four games, accomplished Aug. 14-17, 2011.
"You just make an adjustment," Stanton said. "He was dominating and using his off-speed very effectively. It's our job to adjust to that." More >

Focus: Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig forgot how many outs there were in the eighth inning, when he caught Marcell Ozuna's routine fly ball for the second out and started jogging in while Christian Yelich tagged up and advanced to third. Yelich scored on J.T. Realmuto's bloop single to center on batter later.

Yelich continues streak: Yelich, who had three singles, has now reached safely in all 19 games he's played this season. Yelich's second single, a soft liner to left off J.P. Howell in the eighth inning, proved big, because it set up Realmuto's two-out RBI single, giving Miami a three-run lead.
Yelich raised his batting average to .388 and his on-base percentage to .500.
"We were able to tack on and use our guys out of the bullpen the way we wanted to use them," Mattingly said.

It happens to the best of 'em: Kershaw gave a rundown of the fateful sixth inning.
"Miggy [Miguel Rojas] kind of bloops one in there for a double. [Dee] Gordon's two-strike [comebacker single], I either have to make the play or get out of the way. [Martin] Prado, got in on him a little but he got a hit [to center]. Yelich [single to left to beat the shift] was a bad pitch, missed my spot there, as well as Stanton. It happens quick. I felt better than I have the last few starts, but the results weren't there." More >

QUOTABLE
"We've talked about it before, you don't want to give [Kershaw] any rope. To get down three or four, it's tough on your offense to get back into the game. And we leave the one chance. [Marcell] Ozuna gets that triple, and we leave that guy. That kind of hurts, and it's 2-0, and they add on a run. Tommy [Koehler] kind of settled down and kept us in the game." -- Mattingly

"You don't want their best hitter to beat you, and that's what happened today." -- Kershaw, on Stanton's homer

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Ichiro Suzuki's pinch-hit single in the eighth inning was career hit No. 2,943, tying the 42-year-old Marlins outfielder with Hall of Famer Frank Robinson for 33rd on MLB's all-time list.

WHAT'S NEXT
Marlins: Left-hander Justin Nicolino is getting recalled from Triple-A New Orleans to make his first start of the season in Wednesday's 10:10 p.m. ET contest at Dodger Stadium. In four Triple-A starts, he was 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA.
Dodgers:Scott Kazmir will try to snap a string of shaky starts as he takes the mound for the 7:10 p.m. PT matchup with the Marlins. The southpaw has registered a 9.69 ERA in his last three starts and has been dealing with soreness around his left wrist and thumb.
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