Dodgers 5, Marlins 3
LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Dodgers broke open a close game with a three-run seventh inning and won their second straight over the visiting Miami Marlins with a 5-3 victory on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers had lost eight straight before Saturday, largely because of a lack of timely hitting and little production from their expensive stars.
That changed over the weekend in the slump-busting win on Saturday -- Andre Ethier went 4-for-4, and Hyun-Jin Ryu picked up his fourth victory - and the reversal of fortune continued on Sunday.
Matt Kemp had two hits, including No. 1,000 for his career, and Carl Crawford had two hits, including a crucial RBI single in the seventh inning to spark a three-run inning.
But the Dodgers also received production from lightly heralded Scott Van Slyke, making his first start of the season in place of the injured Adrian Gonzalez. Van Slyke went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, and Punto walked, had a single, a sacrifice fly, a walk and an RBI.
Los Angeles' 11 hits -- all but one player in the lineup had a hit -- was enough to support a bounce-back effort by Chris Capuano. One start removed from a four-inning, five-run, eight-hit debacle in a loss to Arizona, Capuano stifled the Marlins through 6 1/3 innings, allowing just five hits and one run. Miami managed just three hits in the first five innings before a Justin Ruggiano one-out home run in the sixth.
Miami's Tom Koehler, making just his second career start, allowed seven hits and two runs in five innings, but the Dodgers touched up relievers Jon Rauch and Mike Dunn in a big seventh inning.
Crawford singled home Nick Punto, Ethier drove in Juan Uribe with a sacrifice fly and Van Slyke brought in Crawford with an RBI single.
The Dodgers opened the scoring in the second inning on Van Slyke's home run to deep center, and Los Angeles increased the lead to 2-0 with Punto's sacrifice fly to score Schumaker in the fourth inning.
Brandon League allowed two runs and three hits in the ninth inning but picked up the save for Los Angeles.
NOTES: Gonzalez missed his fourth game since suffering a neck strain on May 1. He had two hits, but aggravated the injury on Saturday night. ... Marlins outfielder Austin Kearns was moved from the bereavement list to the restricted list on Sunday. Kearns, who already missed time this season with an irregular heartbeat, was placed on the bereavement list for a personal matter and remains off the 40-man roster. ... Van Slyke was hitting .397 with nine home runs and 30 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Albuquerque before being called up last Wednesday. ... Kemp extended his hitting streak to 11 games with two hits on Sunday afternoon and became the third-fastest Dodger to reach the 1,000-hit plateau (3,400 at-bats).
