Dodgers welcome Marlins and Don Mattingly to L.A.
Listen to this articleOn Monday the Dodgers opened a four-game series against the Miami Marlins, a team with three significant connections to the Dodgers organization. During the 2014 Winter Meetings the Dodgers traded second baseman Dee Gordon, infielder Miguel Rojas and pitcher Dan Haren to Miami for right-hander Andrew Heaney, right-hander Chris Hatcher, infielder Enrique Hernandez and catcher Austin Barnes. The Dodgers then traded Heaney, a top pitching prospect, to the Los Angeles Angels for second baseman Howie Kendrick.
The trade worked out for both teams. Kendrick and Hernandez have fit in well with the Dodgers and Gordon has been a leader on and off the field in Miami. In fact Gordon is starting to have another excellent season.
Then at the end of last season the Dodgers and manager Don Mattingly decided to part ways and that’s when the Marlins picked him up. The Dodgers chose Dave Roberts to take the Skipper’s seat in the Dodgers dugout and major league baseball continued on. Now, Don Mattingly is back, along with Gordon and Rojas, to face their former teammates.
Starting for the Dodgers was rookie right-hander Ross Stripling. For the Marlins, lefty Wei-Yin Chen. Both pitched well for three innings, but in the top of the fourth, Giancarlo Stanton belted a solo homerun to left to put the Marlins in the lead. In the bottom of the inning Yasiel Puig sent a solo shot over the right field wall and then Trayce Thompson got his first homerun as a Dodger with a solo shot to left-center.
In the fifth inning Stanton hit a double, scoring Derek Dietrich. The Dodgers couldn’t answer with any runs. In the top of the sixth Dietrich tripled, scoring J.T. Realmuto.
as a Dodger Monday.
That would be all the scoring in the game. Both bullpens kept runs from scoring in the last three innings and A.J. Ramos scored his fourth save of the season.
The Marlins made Mattingly’s return to Dodger Stadium a pleasant one. Tonight though they face Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw. That is a tall hill to climb for any team, even one with Giancarlo Stanton and Dee Gordon in the lineup.
Our reporter Claudia Gestro has filed her video report from Monday’s game. Take a look as we wait for the start of tonight’s game.
Photos by Claudia Gestro.
We are not the typical news website – nor do we wish to be. We will be offering more than news and blogs, but an opportunity for fiction writers, poets, comedians and musicians to showcase their talent and skills. Much like when the Beatles formed Apple Corps Ltd, they opened the door to all kinds of inspiring talent that never really got a shot. From that came the likes of James Taylor and others. We hope by providing a similar approach we can shine the light on some tremendous undiscovered talent and at the same time offer some familiar voices who live in Los Angeles and beyond.