Dodgers 15, Marlins 2: Matt Sauer saves pen with 5 strong, offense continues rampage with 18 hits

Chad Moriyama 04/29/2025 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

If there was any game this series the Dodgers were going to lose it was probably gonna be a pen game without Ben Casparius against Sandy Alcantara. Thankfully, Alcantara’s struggles to begin the season only got worse against the suddenly-hot Dodgers offense, and Matt Sauer turned in one of the better Dodger “starts” on the season. A season-high 15 runs came from 18 hits and eight walks, as they rolled to a 15-2 victory over the Marlins.

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Regular pen games seem to be on the menu again for the Dodgers despite this still being April, and Jack Dreyer started tonight but things didn’t begin ideally. A lead-off “triple” by Xavier Edwards was more like a potential bloop single that was played into three bags by Teoscar Hernandez, and a Dane Myers single later made it 1-0 Marlins early.

A stolen base followed to put more pressure on in the inning, but Dreyer escaped that jam and also continued in the 2nd for a clean frame with a pair of strikeouts.

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Thankfully, Sandy Alcantara‘s slow start to the season didn’t course correct today, as the Dodgers made that one run not matter real fast.

Shohei Ohtani smashed the first pitch he saw over the right-field wall for his seventh dinger and a 1-1 tie.

A one-out Freddie Freeman double (and then a wild pitch) was followed by a Teoscar bloop double off the center fielder’s glove for a run and the lead.

After a Will Smith infield single — where an error on the attempt to get him allowed Teoscar to get to third — a Max Muncy walk loaded them up, and Tommy Edman hit a sac fly to make it 3-1.

Hell of a first.

The 2nd didn’t seem like much, as there was just an Ohtani walk and two outs, but he stole second, Freddie walked, and Teoscar doubled again to make it 4-1.

Amazingly, things didn’t get any better for Alcantara in the 3rd.

A one-out Edman walk was followed by a stolen base, an Andy Pages single to score Edman, another stolen base (Pages), a wild pitch moving Pages to third, a Michael Conforto walk, the second out, yet another stolen base (Conforto), and a Mookie bloop single to score both Pages and Conforto to push the lead to 7-1.

That was it for Alcantara … ugly stuff.

Their pen did settle the game in for them, at least for some time, cleaning up the 3rd and getting clean frames in the 4th and 5th innings.

Things got ugly again in the 6th, as a Betts single, a Freddie double, and Teoscar reaching on a catcher’s interference loaded the bases with nobody out. Will then doubled off the wall in right for two runs, and Edman doubled himself for two more as the score ballooned to 11-1.

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As for the Dodgers pen, Matt Sauer took over in the 3rd and faced the minimum on just seven pitches, helped by Pages’ arm in center erasing a single.

That helped set the tone for what was effectively a dominant start by him. Sauer gave up just an infield single in the 4th, got a clean 5th, and gave up a single in the 6th.

For his final inning in the 7th, he gave up a one-out single that was advanced to second on a groundout, and against the only batter with a RISP he faced in the game, he gave up another single to score a run and make it 11-2 before he ended his outing.

Unfortunate, but still an remarkable outing for him, and the best of his career: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 78 Pitches.

Matt Sauer, welcome to the Game 4 NLDS pen game.

— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 5:40 PM

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Not that it really mattered, but the Dodgers got that run back in their half of the 7th, as a one-out Enrique Hernandez walk was advanced to second on the second out, and a Teoscar liner into center was misplayed for a single to make it 12-2 again.

In the 8th, Pages added his sixth homer of the year against a position player to push things to 13-2.

They then rallied with two outs, as Austin Barnes, Enrique Hernandez, Miguel Rojas, and Teoscar all singled in a row to plate two more and make it 15-2, with the last two guys driving in a run a piece.

Finishing the game, Luis Garcia gave up just a two-out walk in the 8th, and then Enrique of all people took over in the 9th.

Amazing stuff happened, mostly due to … whatever that is.

Anyway, he allowed a pair of infield singles, both of which were basically errors in one way or another, but he didn’t allow any runs.

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Fun faces.

Expressive faces.

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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 29, 2025 at 5:32 PM

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NL WestRecordGB
Dodgers20-10–
Giants19-111
Padres18-111.5

Tomorrow’s contest is gonna be another early one at 9:10 AM HT/12:10 PM PT/3:10 PM ET, and it’ll be on MLB Network if you like. The matchup will feature Tony Gonsolin making his return from injury against Cal Quantrill.

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