Marlins Lose Late After Cishek Blows Another Save
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LOS ANGELES (CBSMiami/AP) – The Miami Marlins' bullpen woes continued on Monday night in Los Angeles.
Scott Van Slyke's wild ride against the Miami Marlins began with a baserunning blunder in the fifth inning that cost his team a run. It continued in the seventh, when he threw out a runner at home plate to complete an inning-ending double play.
And it ended with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth against struggling closer Steve Cishek, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-3 victory Monday night.
"You can be the goat or the hero in a matter of pitches," said teammate Andre Ethier, who contributed to the winning rally with a single. "Scott was involved in a lot of plays tonight.
"Somehow, this game seems to always work out that way. And that's one of the nicest attributes of this game. There's a lot of times when the chance to redeem yourself is in your hands. It just shows you how headstrong he is."
Christian Yelich gave the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth with a two-run homer off rookie Yimi Garcia before Cishek (1-3) walked Yasmani Grandal with one out and gave up Ethier's single.
Up stepped Van Slyke, who drove a 1-0 pitch into the left-center pavilion for his second game-ending homer. The other one came as a pinch hitter at Dodger Stadium several years ago.
"It's just very disappointing. All I needed to do was get the last three outs of the game, but I continued to let the team down," said Cishek, charged with his fourth blown save in seven opportunities. "I mean, this is about as low as I can get. This is a huge trial in my life right now career-wise, but I've always found a way to get out of it. I'm waiting for that time to come."
J.P. Howell (2-1) got credit for the win after retiring former Dodger Dee Gordon with the bases loaded.
Gordon was 0 for 4 with a walk in his return to Dodger Stadium, ending his hitting streak at 13 games - which equaled his career best from last September with Los Angeles. The All-Star second baseman spent his first four big league seasons with the Dodgers before he was traded to Miami last December.
Garcia, who threw 12 1-3 scoreless innings in his previous 12 appearances, walked Marcell Ozuna with one out in the ninth and Yelich drove the next pitch the other way over the auxiliary scoreboard in left field for his first home run since Aug. 6, 2014. The Dodgers' bullpen had not allowed a run over the team's previous 10 home games spanning 37 1-3 innings.
"We had this game won in the top of the ninth and then it gets snatched from you real quick with one pitch with them hitting a home run," Ethier said. "And then to have that big a reversal in the bottom of the ninth, there were a lot of emotions. But for the most part, none of us panicked or didn't think we could come through."
Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson made up for an earlier baserunning gaffe with a go-ahead single in the seventh that scored Van Slyke. That gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead and put Zack Greinke in line for what would have been his sixth straight victory to begin this season.
Greinke allowed six hits over seven innings, lowering his ERA to 1.52. He has a 1.94 ERA in 15 starts since his most recent loss on Aug. 9, 2014, against Milwaukee.
Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler held the two-time defending NL West champions to a run and three hits through six innings.
Los Angeles scratched across the game's first run on a grounder by Justin Turner in the fourth. Ozuna tied it in the seventh with his third home run.
Miami then loaded the bases, but Van Slyke charged in from left field to catch Adeiny Hechavarria's line drive and threw a strike to the plate, where Grandal made a sweep tag on Yelich for the inning-ending double play.
SEEN THAT BEFORE
Gordon displayed his defensive prowess in the sixth, racing in for a dribbler past the mound and making a desperation, behind-the-back flip to first baseman Michael Morse about 10 feet from the bag for the third out.
NOT MUCH HELP
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts after getting a rest Sunday.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers RF Yasiel Puig had an MRI on his left hamstring strain, which he aggravated Friday during his minor league rehab assignment. The club was still awaiting the results.
UP NEXT
Marlins: Dan Haren (4-1) has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his first six starts with Miami. Last season was Haren's only one with the Dodgers, and he was 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA in 32 starts.
Dodgers: Mike Bolsinger will be called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to make his second start of the season. He allowed a run and five hits over six innings April 23 in a no-decision at San Francisco.
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