Dodgers 0 Marlins 2: Well… That Was Painful

Dodgers extend their losing streak to three consecutive games as they fell short yet again this evening to the Miami Marlins.

Overall, this whole game was just so painful. It was so frustrating that I openly admit I fell asleep for an inning because the offense was just not there at all, and to my “surprise”, I missed nothing.

Scott Kazmir got off to a rough start and allowed the Marlins to score their two runs in the first inning. After giving up four hits and two runs in the first, Kazmir settled down a lot and did not allow another hit until the top of the fifth. The biggest problem for Kazmir following the first inning was his pitch count. He labored through every inning.

Justin Nicolino was just completely in control. He did not allow a Dodger to get to second base in his outing. It only took Nicolino 14 pitches to make it through the 6th and 7th innings. The Dodgers are now 0-11 with runners in scoring position in this series. Clearly the problem is scoring runs. They cannot seem to capitalize on anything and tonight the Dodgers just could not get hits against Nicolino.

Corey Seager AKA the birthday boy, got the first hit of the evening when he singled in the bottom of the second. The Dodgers would not get their second hit of the game until Justin Turner singled in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Marlins pulled Nicolino in the bottom of the eighth inning with one out. Don Mattingly brought in Bryan Morris who gave up a walk to Chase Utley, who was pinch hitting for Trayce Thompson. Mattingly then pulled Morris and put in Cody Ege. Ege then walked Yasmani Grandal. Mattingly then made another visit to the mound to pull Ege and put in David Phelps. Joc Pederson entered the game to pinch hit for Enrique Hernandez. Pederson walked again and all of a sudden the Dodgers had the bases loaded all thanks to walks from three Marlins pitchers.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the game happened following Pederosn’s walk. Phelps’ gestured and asked where the pitch was for ball four. Immediately following that, home plate umpire Todd Tichenor ejected Phelps. Mattingly came out to plead his case and he too was ejected.

After the ejections, Jose Urena entered the game for the Marlins and he struck out Yasiel Puig. Adrian Gonzalez lined out to end the inning. It seemed like for a quick second that the Dodgers may have finally been able to capitalize and actually score with men in scoring position, but the slump continued.

Joe Blanton put together a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning, but sadly the Dodgers would go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end the game.

For the first time in forever (*insert Frozen music here*) Dodger fans cannot blame the loss on the bullpen. The bullpen has actually been doing great. You cannot expect to win a game off of two hits. My biggest concern right now is that the Dodger bats have gone silent.

Tomorrow they will face the Marlins at 7:10 PM and look for a win in order to avoid being swept in the four game series.