Miami’s Walk-a-thon and Puig’s Bat Flip Give Dodgers 6-5 Win

Dodgers 6 10 0

Marlins 5 8 0

WP- Haren (5-1)
LP- Koehler (3-3)
S- Jansen (12)
HR- Yelich (4), Puig (7), Johnson (1)

The Marlins walked 10 batters, allowed one three-run bat flip, and continued to be the worst road team in baseball on Monday night as they fell to the Dodgers in Game 1 of a three game set. The Dodgers, who struggle at home, managed to score 6 runs behind a solid Dan Haren start who did not allow a walk over his 7 innings of work.

May 12, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Dan Haren (14) throws in the first inning of the game against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers’ bullpen could not let us go to bed without their daily scare. Brian Wilson, who continues to be inconsistent allowed 2 runs in the top of the eighth inning on a walk and a homerun to none other than Reed Johnson. Whatever is going on with Wilson needs to be fixed, because at this point he is totally ineffective in relief. Kenley Jansen luckily came in and pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up his twelfth save of the season.

The Dodgers had a lot of help from the Marlins’ pitching staff, but they also came up with some key hits which gave them the one-run edge in the end. An RBI single from Dan Haren in the second put them on the board, and a huge three-run homerun from Puig in the fourth gave the Dodgers a much-needed shot of offense as well. The Dodgers scored another two runs in the fifth on a Ethier RBI single and a RBI walk drawn by Puig.

The Marlins scored two in the third on a solo shot by Yelich and a RBI single by Stanton. The Fish plated their other two runs in the eighth off a Reed Johnson blast, his first of the season.

Christian Yelich singles to right field on the very first pitch he sees from Dan Haren in the top of the first. With Derek Dietrich at the plate, Yelich steals second. There is a momentary delay when Yelich has to retrieve a new belt from the dugout after breaking his on the slide into second. Dietrich flies out to center, and Yelich tags up and advances to third. Giancarlo Stanton hits a little ground ball to first, and the umpires call Stanton safe although the review shows that Haren got to the bag first. Don Mattingly challenges the call which is overturned. Yelich still scores on the play, and the Fish lead 1-0. Casey McGehee grounds out to second, but a run is already in the books.

Tom Koehler walks Yasiel Puig with one out in the home half of the first, but Puig is caught stealing with Hanley Ramirez at the plate. Koehler then proceeds to walk HanRam. Adrian Gonzalez flies out to center to end the frame.

Haren strikes out Jarrod Saltalamacchia to open the second inning. Garrett Jones singles to center. Marcell Ozuna grounds into a force, and is

May 12, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich (21) is met by manager Mike Redmond (11) after scoring a run in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

able to outrun the double play. Adeiny Hechavarria grounds out to short for the third out.

Matt Kemp, in his 1,000th career game, lines a single to right to lead-off the bottom of the second for the Dodgers’ first base hit of the night. With Justin Turner in the batter’s box, Matt Kemp steals second and is 5 for 7 in stolen bases this season. Turner singles to right, and Kemp has to hold at third. Drew Butera flies out to right, and it’s not deep enough for Kemp to tag up. Dan Haren takes matters into his own hands, and he singles to left for his first RBI of the year as Kemp jogs home. The game is tied up 1-1.

The tie is very short-lived as Christian Yelich proceeds to go yard for a solo shot in the top of third inning with one out. Dietrich then doubles to right field. Stanton then singles in the second run of the inning, and the Fish are now ahead 3-1. McGehee also singles, but Salty grounds into a double play to bring the inning to an end.

Gonzo singles, and Matt Kemp walks in the bottom of the fourth yet the Dodgers fail to score.
Dan Haren pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth, his easiest inning thus far on the night.

The Dodgers collect another two walks from Koehler in the bottom of the fourth as Butera and Gordon get free passes. Unfortunately Haren’s bunt attempt is a failure, and he can’t move the runners over. The five walks finally catch up to Koehler as Yasiel Puig crushes a three-run homerun off the first pitch! That’s Puig’s seventh homer of the year, and according to Vin it’s his 12th homerun he’s hit off the first pitch. That also extends hit hitting streak to 12 games and he has hit homeruns in back-to-back games. The Dodgers now lead 4-3. Hanley singles to center with a ground ball just under Hechavarria. That’s going to be all for Koehler. Dan Jennings will take over for Koehler out of the Fish Tank a.k.a. bullpen. He gets his man as Gonzo flies out to end the inning, but Puig’s bomb continues to reverberate.

Tom Koehler pitched 3 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 6 hits with 1 strikeout and 5 walks on 103 pitches.

Haren pitches another easy 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, and he has now retired 7 in a row.

May 12, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Tom Koehler (34) throws in the first inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Henry Rodriguez will pitch the bottom of the fifth for the Marlins. Rodriguez almost takes Matt Kemp’s head off with a pitch, and he walks. Kemp steals second again with Ethier at-bat. Ethier singles home Kemp, and the Dodgers now lead 5-3. Ethier then takes a risk, and he is thrown out trying to steal second. Hechavarria retires Turner, but Butera doubles to left field. With A.J. Ellis set to return tomorrow, it looks like Butera has won the back-up catching job over Olivo. Haren walks. Gordon walks. That’ll bring up Puig with the bases loaded and two outs. Puig walks, and a run comes in with Butera. That’s going to be all for Henry Rodriguez who walked 4 in 2/3 of an inning. Brad Hand will have to face Hanley with the bases loaded. Hanley grounds out to third, but eighth men come up to bat and two of them score.

In the sixth, Stanton doubles to lead-off the inning and continues to give the Dodgers a bad time. Haren induces three groundouts from McGehee, Salty, and Jones to flounder the Fish in the frame.

Miami continues to walk the world as Hand walks Gonzo to start off the bottom of the sixth. Kemp is caught looking and strikes out. Dre flies out. Turner manages a single to right. Butera strikes out to end the inning.

Haren shuts down the Marlins again in the seventh.

Carter Capps will become the fifth pitcher of the night for Miami in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch-hitter Chone Figgins flares a single to lead-off, but the Dodger strand him.

Dan Haren pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits with 2 strikeouts and no walks on 92 pitches.
Can the Dodgers bullpen hold this lead for two innings? Brian Wilson will attempt to get three outs in the eighth. Well, that’s easier said than done.

May 12, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) reacts after hitting a 3-run home run in the third inning of the game against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Haren had not walked a man all night, and Wilson proceeds to walk Yelich, the first man he faces. Then Reed Johnson, the former Dodger, hits a two-run homerun in the left field corner, and it’s suddenly a one-run game, 5-4. The bullpen is simply awful, and Brian Wilson is just not getting it done.

He gets Stanton and McGehee, but Mattingly will bring in J.P. Howell to face Salty. Howell strikes out Salty looking to end the inning.

Mike Dunn will pitch the bottom of the eighth for the Fish, and the Dodgers go down 1-2-3.

Hold on to your seats, Kenley Jansen is in for the top of the ninth inning…Jones pops out. Ozuna flies out. Hechavarria strikes out, and the Dodgers win!

The Dodgers improve to 21-19. Tomorrow evening Josh Beckett will counter Jacob Turner for Game 2.