Jackie, Pee Wee help LA top Fish in Bracket
This browser does not support the video element.
LOS ANGELES -- With Hall of Famer infielders Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese doing the offensive damage, the Dodgers overwhelmed the Marlins in five games to take their best-of-seven Round of 16 series of the MLB Dream Bracket presented by DraftKings.
The Dodgers advance to the quarterfinals, where they will meet the Brewers, who beat the Cubs in a seven-game series.
Robinson was 10-for-21 with five runs scored and Reese was 7-for-16 with six runs scored against Miami, with Reese and Gil Hodges homering in the series. Don Drysdale turned in the best pitching performance of the tournament with a three-hit shutout in Game 3.
The MLB Dream Bracket is a 32-team best-of-seven simulation featuring all-time teams for each of the 30 current Major League franchises, as well as teams consisting of Negro Leagues Stars and 25 & Under Stars. The 26-man rosters for each of the teams, compiled by the MLB.com beat reporters, consist of 15 hitters and 11 pitchers. For the simulation, players are rated using the average of their three best seasons on a single team. Rosters were constructed with balanced depth to specifically compete in a simulated regulation game.
• Full bracket and schedule | Dream Bracket rosters | Play FREE: DraftKings Dream Bracket pools
Game 1: Dodgers 5, Marlins 0
Sandy Koufax, Kenley Jansen and Don Sutton combined on a four-hitter and Hodges homered as the Dodgers blanked the Marlins. Roy Campanella added a two-run double as the Dodgers beat José Fernández. Koufax struck out nine in six innings while Sutton pitched two scoreless innings for the save.
Game 2: Marlins 4, Dodgers 3
Miami beat Clayton Kershaw with a two-run double by Miguel Cabrera in a three-run first inning and a tie-breaking home run from Mike Lowell in the sixth inning. After falling behind early, the Dodgers scored one run off Josh Johnson in the first inning on Duke Snider’s RBI double and tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on Snider’s RBI single. But Lowell’s two-out homer made a winner of Johnson, with Robb Nen escaping a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and pitching 1 2/3 innings for the save.
Game 3: Dodgers 2, Marlins 0
Campanella laced a two-run double in the first inning and that was enough for Drysdale, who fired a three-hit shutout. Drysdale struck out six without a walk, induced 14 ground-ball outs and needed only 101 pitches (71 strikes) to finish off the win. The Dodgers' offense stranded 11 runners. Josh Beckett took the loss for Miami.
Game 4: Dodgers 6, Marlins 1
Reese had three hits including a home run and Orel Hershiser allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings as the Dodgers moved to within a win of advancing to the next round. Reese, Robinson and Steve Garvey doubled off loser Dontrelle Willis. Gary Sheffield, who played for both teams, drove in three runs and stole a base for the Dodgers; he also doubled off Hershiser for the Marlins. Dodgers catcher Campanella threw out three potential basestealers.
Game 5: Dodgers 6, Marlins 5 (12)
After his throwing error allowed the tying run to score in the bottom of the 11th inning, Cody Bellinger’s one-out RBI double in the 12th beat the Marlins and sent the Dodgers to the next round. The Dodgers scored a go-ahead run in the top of the 11th after a botched Marlins rundown play, but Bellinger’s error extended the game. Robinson for the Dodgers and Derrek Lee for the Marlins set a DBK playoff extra-innings record with five hits each. Robinson had a triple and two doubles, while Lee hit a pair of doubles. Dodgers batters struck out 21 times, five by Hodges for another DBK playoff extra-innings record. Fernando Valenzuela got the win.