Dodgers finish off Marlins to complete three-game sweep

The Marlins arrived inside Dodger Stadium on Friday fully aware of their daunting task: a three-game series against the National League’s juggernaut, the Los Angeles Dodgers. In Sunday’s finale, Walker Buehler dazzled, tossing seven masterful innings and striking out 11 Miami hitters to complete the sweep, 9-0.

Jordan Yamamoto’s seventh career start and first against the Dodgers did not go as planned. He had pitched 34 consecutive innings without allowing a home run, dating back to his debut June 12 versus St. Louis...until Max Muncy put an end to Yamamoto’s streak in the home half of the first inning. Muncy blasted an 88 MPH cutter into the left centerf ield seats and the Dodgers raced to an early 2-0 lead. Yamamoto had issues locating the strike zone, finding himself in numerous three-ball situations. In the third, Yamamoto walked Buehler to open, setting up Joc Pederson, who blasted his 23rd dinger of the season, extending Los Angeles’ lead to 4-0.

Yamamoto was pulled after four innings, as his pitch count rose to 91 after Buehler was called out on strikes, coughing up a career-worst five earned runs in total.

Like Hyun-Jin Ryu (Friday) and Clayton Kershaw (Saturday) before him, Buehler rarely felt threatened on the mound. He limited the Marlins to five hits, with Brian Anderson’s first-inning double and Neil Walker’s one-out double in the ninth the only extra-base hits.

With runners on the corners and two gone in the fifth, A.J. Pollock smacked an RBI single to left off Wei-Yin Chen, relieving Yamamoto, to tack on another insurance run, 6-0. Chen settled down in the sixth, allowing a leadoff single to Enrique Hernández, before setting down Austin Barnes, Buehler and Pederson. Taking over bullpen duties in the seventh, Tayron Guerrero was shaky, as Justin Turner reached on a fielding error from Yadiel Rivera—earning a rare start at shortstop—and Muncy walked. Pollock took a 97 MPH four-seam fastball from Guerrero to the seats in right center, blowing the contest open, 9-0.

Miami batters finished 6-for-33 against Dodger pithing Sunday, including fourteen strikeouts. For the first time since July 5 at Atlanta, Miami failed to score a run.

At 36-61 (worst in the National League), the Marlins will pack their personal belongings and head to the South Side of Chicago, opening a three-game weekday interleague duel against the Chicago White Sox. Trevor Richards, winless since June 2, will take the ball for Don Mattingly’s bunch. Ivan Nova will get a crack at his fifth career start against the Marlins, sitting at an unblemished 4-0 mark with a 0.98 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET.

Marlins vs. Dodgers box score (Baseball Theater)

Fish Picks answer key

1. Buehler
2. Under
3. Under
4. No
5. Dodgers