Win was rare bright spot on brutal trip
Marlins have gone 2-6 with one game remaining on road.
Cameron
LOS ANGELES — Maybin found an opening, and the Marlins won as a result.
Maybin’s go-ahead double in the ninth inning propelled the Marlins to a come-frombehind, 3-2 victory over the Dodgers on Tuesday night
and ended their five-game losing streak.
With the Dodgers shad- ing Maybin toward right, the veteran pulled a double into the open expanse of left, scoring Brian Ander- son from second with the deciding run.
The victory kept the Marlins (6-17) from descend- ing into a tie with the Reds for the worst record in the majors.
Their record didn’t figure
to night improve ace when Clayton they any Wednesday faced Kershaw Dodg- to
ers close what out has both been the a brutal series road and twice trip in in which games. they’ve won
nine
for It the wasn’t Marlins looking on Tues- good day ro’s bases-loaded when Tayron walk Guerre- gave the seventh. Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the
But the Marlins got a run back in the eighth on Star
lin Castro’s two-out double and grabbed the lead on May
bin’s two-bagger one inning later. Brad Ziegler worked the ninth for his second save.
The Marlins took early batting practice Tuesday, but the
extra work didn’t spark their stagnant offense, at least not initially. Beyond J.T. Realmu- to’s solo home run off Dodg- ers starter Kenta Maeda and Lewis Brinson’s first career double, the Marlins managed only four hits over the first seven innings.
The Marlins received a workmanlike effort from starter Dillon Peters, who pitched into the sixth before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Peters gave up a run over 5⅓ innings and left with the score tied 1-1. How long can Garcia’s suc- cess last? Jarlin Garcia has performed like no other Marlins starting pitcher ever has at this early stage of his major league journey.
Not Jose Fernandez. Not Josh Beckett. Not Dontrelle Willis, or Livan Hernandez, or anyone else.
In his three starts, Garcia has allowed one earned run — Kike Hernandez’s solo home run Monday in the Marlins’ 2-1 loss to the Dodgers — and
only five hits spread over 17 innings.
Among starters, his 0.53 ERA ranks second only to the Giants’ Johnny Cueto’s figure of 0.35. He has been, by far, the Marlins’ bright- est spot — one of few on the roster— in a transition sea
son that already has swirled down the drain.
If the season ended now, Garcia would be their AllStar representative.
Just don’t expect the success to continue for the 25-year-old lefty, not at this exceptional rate.
At some point, the law of averages will swing the numbers closer to the norm, as batted balls that have been falling into fielder’s gloves for outs now eventually will begin to drop into the empty spaces for hits.
Opposing batters are hitting .114 against Garcia, the most anemic figure in the Majors, and one that is certain to rise.
“It’s one of those things where outs are outs and you take them when you can,” Garcia said after Monday’s good outing. “I knew that this (Dodger Stadium) is a ballpark where the ball flies, so I was happy to keep them all within the fences and get outs.”
Notes: Wei-Yin Chen will make his first start of the season for the Marlins on Saturday, according to Craig Mish of Sirius/XM . ... Dan Straily worked 5⅓ innings Tuesday for Double-A Jacksonville in what was likely his final rehab outing. … Shortstop JT Riddle and third baseman Martin Prado played Tuesday in rehab games for Class A Jupiter as they continued to work toward their returns from the disabled list. Both were scheduled to play again Wednesday for Jupiter.