Wednesday was getaway day for Dodgers, so before the final game of the team’s brief six-game homestand suitcases were lined up outside the clubhouse and equipment bags in various states of packing were strewn about the floor of the locker room.
And while few places have been sweeter than home for the Dodgers over the past two seasons, the team may be happy to get out of town after falling 3-2 to the Miami Marlins.
The loss before a sun-splashed matinee crowd marked the first time the Dodgers have lost consecutive games at home since last fall’s World Series. Of more concern is the fact the Dodgers scored just three times in the two games, going four for 17 with men in scoring position and leaving 16 runners on base in the two contests.
The Dodgers still lead the majors in home wins with 12 and have the best home ERA in baseball. On the road, meanwhile, the team ERA is nearly a run a game higher and the Dodgers’ record isn’t even the best in their own division.
For Tyler Glasnow, the results have been just the opposite. The right-hander was unbeaten in three starts on the road, where he has been nearly unhittable, and winless in his first two at home, where he struggled.
And while he didn’t get a decision Wednesday his performance on a brilliant cloudless afternoon was his best of the season at Dodger Stadium, with Glasnow scattering three hits and striking out nine in 5 2/3 innings. Two of the hits were solo home runs, however, so he left trailing 2-1.
Liam Hicks opened the scoring for Miami, driving Glasnow’s first pitch of the second inning into the lower stands just inside the right-field foul pole for his seventh home run of the season. The run was the first Glasnow had given up in his last 12 innings and the right-hander didn’t allow another hit until the fifth, when former teammate Esteury Ruiz hits his first homer of the season into the first row of the left-field pavilion.
In between, the Dodgers accepted a gift run with Max Muncy starting the second with a double off the glove of center fielder Jakob Marsee, then scoring two outs later when shortstop Otto Lopez lost Alex Call’s popup in the bright midday sky.
The Dodgers had Miami starter Sandy Alcantara on the ropes most of the afternoon, putting runners on in five of the six innings he pitched. But aside from the tainted run in the second, they couldn’t break through against the right-hander until the sixth.
Kyle Tucker led off that inning with a double to right-center, moved to third on a ground out, then scored on Dalton Rushing’s two-strike single to right. But Alcantara escaped the jam when Alex Freeland to bounced to second with two runners on.
After that, it became a battle of the bullpens — a battle the Marlins won when Javier Sanoja blopped a two-out single to shallow right off reliever Will Klein in the eighth, scoring Xavier Edwards with the winning run.
The Dodgers had a chance to that back in the bottom of the ninth when right-hander Calvin Faucher walked the first two batters he faced. After a sacrifice, Faucher walked Shohei Ohtani intentionally to load the bases but Freddie Freeman hit into an unassisted double play.
