Marlins Look To End Road Game Skid
MIAMI (AP) - The Miami Marlins may be on a four-game slide, but they're much more concerned with potentially losing Jose Fernandez for the rest of the season.
A day after putting their ace on the disabled list, the Marlins will try to slow down Yasiel Puig and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle game of this series at Chavez Ravine on Tuesday night.
Miami's road woes continued with Monday's 6-5 loss in the series opener, dropping it to a major league-worst 3-14 away from home.
The team absorbed a far greater blow hours earlier when Fernandez - the reigning NL Rookie of the Year - was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow, spurring reports that he's headed for Tommy John surgery.
"That's probably what everyone is going to talk about and continue to talk about," manager Mike Redmond said. "That's a question I don't think anybody has the answer to.
"You see how much he means, so much to our team and our rotation and really all of baseball. He's been a dynamic player. He's been a huge lift and a huge spark for our team. We just hope everything goes well and he just has to take a little bit of a break."
The Dodgers (21-19) have their own young, dynamic star in Puig.
The right fielder has put together a career-high 12-game hitting streak, during which he's batting .408 with four homers and 15 RBIs. He connected for a three-run homer and drew a bases-loaded walk Monday.
Puig has homered on two of his five hits in four games against the Marlins (20-19) this year, driving in eight runs. That includes a three-run shot off Jacob Turner - Miami's scheduled starter - in a 9-7, 11-inning win May 3.
Josh Beckett (0-1, 2.80 ERA) tries again for his first victory since Sept. 30, 2012. The right-hander is 0-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 14 starts since his last win and will try to avoid becoming the first Dodger to go winless in 15 straight starts since Fernando Valenzuela went 19 in a row from June 19, 1988-June 2, 1989.
Beckett has certainly pitched well enough to win, yielding two runs or fewer in four of six starts. But he's been backed by seven total runs, three in his past four games.
He worked six scoreless innings before serving up a game-tying solo homer in the seventh and was pulled with two outs in a 3-1 loss in 10 to San Francisco on Thursday.
"It's encouraging for us that, (except for) one pitch, he was just about flawless," manager Don Mattingly told the team's official website. "He's shown he's still got enough fastball to keep hitters honest. It's disappointing we can't get him a win. He's pitched well pretty much every time out. He can only do so much."
Beckett, the 2003 World Series MVP with the Marlins, has lost both of his starts against his former team, allowing eight runs in 13 2-3 innings, including a 6-3 defeat May 2.
Garrett Jones is mired in a 3-for-31 skid, but is 5 for 6 with a homer and three doubles against Beckett.
Turner (0-0, 6.75) is 0-9 with a 3.80 ERA in 16 career road starts heading into his first game at Dodger Stadium.
The right-hander rebounded from a poor performance against the Dodgers on May 3 with a very effective outing Thursday at San Diego, giving up one run over six innings in a 3-1, 11-inning win. His only mistake was a home run to pitcher Ian Kennedy.
Juan Uribe and Dee Gordon are a combined 7 for 8 against Turner.
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