Dodgers have night to forget vs. Marlins
LOS ANGELES -- A simulated game is likely next on the comeback checklist of injured left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, and the Dodgers probably would have just as soon simulated Wednesday night's game against the Marlins, a 13-3 loss at Dodger Stadium.
Starter Paul Maholm (1-4) was battered for 11 hits and 10 runs (five earned) in 3 2/3 innings, and his next turn comes up on Wednesday. It's possible Ryu could be ready to return from his shoulder injury by then.
"Obviously, we need to see how things are with Hyun-Jin," manager Don Mattingly said. "He came out of his bullpen [session on Tuesday] feeling fine. We'll set up some kind of simulated game for him in Arizona. He's kind of the factor on where we go from here."
Making his Major League debut, Miami starter Anthony DeSclafani got loads of support (17 hits) in his jump from Double-A Jacksonville, plus some assistance from the leaky Dodgers defense, but he was pretty sharp himself as the Marlins halted a five-game losing streak. DeSclafani, taking the rotation spot of surgery-bound 2013 National League Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez, struck out seven in six innings, and allowed two runs on seven hits and one walk.
He also rapped his first Major League hit, an RBI single in the sixth off Brian Wilson.
Yasiel Puig broke up DeSclafani's shutout bid with an RBI double in the fifth, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games, and Carl Crawford homered in the sixth.
The Marlins batted around twice in the first four innings, scoring six runs each in the second and the fourth.
Ed Lucas and Reed Johnson hit two-run homers, and Jeff Mathis hit a three-run shot. It was the first homer by Lucas and the second for both Mathis and Johnson this season -- with Johnson getting both of his in this series.
Maholm gave up the Lucas and Johnson homers.
"It [stunk] to leave the bullpen with that many innings," said Maholm, who wanted to finish the fourth and go out for the fifth and advised Mattingly accordingly. "I told him I wanted to save the bullpen."
In the ninth, backup catcher Drew Butera saved the relief corps an inning by retiring the Marlins in order in his second Major League pitching outing.
Former Dodgers left-hander Randy Wolf, making his Marlins debut, pitched the final three innings for his first Major League save. He ranks fourth in victories among active left-handers.
"That's the beauty of baseball," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "You never know what you're going to see. A guy 37 years old getting a save, and a rookie getting his first Major League win, and Drew Butera getting to pitch the ninth. It was fun."
The Dodgers' defense did Maholm no favors in a nightmarish second inning. The Marlins scored six runs, five unearned after second baseman Dee Gordon let DeSclafani's high-hopper play him for an error. A two-run homer by Lucas -- during an at-bat in which he accidentally flung his bat into the stands -- compounded the damage.
Gordon's error was far from the costliest misplay of the inning, however. After Lucas' homer, left fielder Crawford misread a Giancarlo Stanton liner, and it went over his head for a double.
And Jeff Baker's swinging bunt down the third-base line scored Stanton from second base when catcher A.J. Ellis, who went after the dribbler that was fielded by Maholm, couldn't get back to the plate in time to allow first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to throw home.
"Dee makes that play almost every time," Maholm said of Gordon's error. "It was frustrating, just overall. I didn't make the pitches to punch guys out when I wanted to.
"It wasn't anybody else's fault. It was me."