A tough 11-9 Dodgers loss to the Marlins was a story of the most disappointing pitchers from a first-place team doing as much damage as possible to a last-place team. Miami pitched around Bobby Miller and Michael Grove to earn just its 29th home win of the season.
Regardless of the outcome of the game against the Marlins, the outlook for Miller’s 2024 season would be little changed. Still, it would be forgivable to hold out the slightest hope for a productive end to this season, if only because the Marlins were so bad with the bat this year that a decent performance was entirely possible.
Well, the worst that could have happened did happen. Miller struggled so much that you just wanted to see him out of the game for his own good. In the first inning, Gavin Lux hit a botched grounder, but that would have largely delayed the inevitable, as Miami bypassed the Dodgers’ starter entirely.
The Dodgers starter then allowed eight baserunners and four runs against the NL’s weakest offense, and in real time, things looked even worse.
Dave Roberts had to cover most of the game with his bullpen and couldn’t use exclusively high-impact pitchers, so Grove was the first out of the bullpen. With Grove on the mound, not much changed. He allowed more hard-hit balls than Miller without completing two innings and conceded three more runs, giving Miami a seven-run lead before halftime.
Almost as surprising as the fact that the Dodgers allowed seven runs in more than three innings against the Marlins is the fact that this team was hardly behind for much of the game.
After suffering setbacks in the first few innings, the Dodgers came back with a vengeance and tied the score at 4-4 in the third inning. Shohei Ohtani sparked a comeback with his 48th home run of the year, a two-run shot.
Grove allowed more runs shortly after, but things didn’t get out of control, as Miguel Rojas also managed a yard, surpassing his total from last season and his sixth in 2024. But as much fighting spirit as LA showed, they never had enough to take control of this game, trailing at some point in every inning from start to finish.
The Marlins looked set to win the game with two more runs in the eighth inning, making it an 11-7 game. The Dodgers, however, brought some emotion into the ninth inning, scoring two runs with two outs, but a strikeout by Tommy Edman decided the game 11-9. Max Muncy scored five runs on three hits.
The seriousness of the Dodgers’ pitching problems was demonstrated by the fact that LA did not have its first one-two-three frame until the seventh inning by Brusdar Graterol.
Aside from that massive two-run home run, Ohtani was surprisingly well held in check at 50-50 by the Marlins’ pitchers, who had shut him out with strikeouts in his other three at-bats.
Details from Tuesday
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (48), Miguel Rojas (6); Jake Burger (26), Otto Lopez (6)
WP – Anthony Veneziano (1-0): 1⅓ IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 2 strikeouts
LP — Michael Grove (4-4): 1⅔ IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk
Next
On Wednesday (3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), Landon Knack will take the ball and look to show some length against the Miami Marlins offense. On the other side of that game, Ryan Weathers is expected to return to the major leagues.
