LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers' offense struggled to find a spark on Wednesday afternoon, falling 3-2 to the Marlins in the series finale at Dodger Stadium.
The loss highlighted a trend of missed opportunities for a lineup that has struggled to provide consistent run support for its rotation over the past week. Despite an outing from Tyler Glasnow that featured elite swing-and-miss stuff, the Dodgers were unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded chance in the bottom of the ninth, leaving nine men on base throughout the afternoon.
Glasnow took the mound coming off a dominant eight scoreless innings against the Giants last Thursday. While he struck out the side in both the third and fourth innings, his afternoon was hampered by a lack of command. Although he surrendered only three hits over 5 2/3 innings and racked up nine strikeouts, Glasnow issued a season-high six walks and allowed two solo home runs -- one to Liam Hicks in the second and another to Esteury Ruiz in the fifth.
Glasnow finished his afternoon with two earned runs allowed, but the high walk count forced an early exit after 92 pitches.
The Dodgers managed to tie the contest twice. Max Muncy provided an early spark in the second with a leadoff double, eventually scoring on an Alex Call RBI single. In the sixth, Dalton Rushing drove in Kyle Tucker with a sharp single to right field to pull the Dodgers even at 2-2. However, the club finished the day 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The decisive blow came in the eighth inning when Javier Sanoja dropped a popup single into shallow center field, scoring Xavier Edwards to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers appeared poised for a comeback after Hyeseong Kim and Call drew back-to-back walks. Following an Alex Freeland sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to Shohei Ohtani to load the bases, Freddie Freeman grounded into an unassisted double play by Edwards -- Miami's second baseman -- to end the game.
The result marked a frustrating finish to the series, as the Dodgers now look toward a weekend set in St. Louis focused on stabilizing the rotation and finding consistency at the plate. For a team navigating several injuries to its pitching staff, the inability to convert late-inning baserunners into runs remains a primary focus for the coaching staff as the first month of the season concludes.