Dodgers 7, Marlins 1: Brett Anderson is allergic to fly balls

The Dodgers beat the Marlins 7-1 on Friday night, securing their third straight victory with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke yet to go in this series.

The Dodgers got the win on the back of Brett Anderson, who has continued his run of excellence after a rough April (5.49 ERA). In the last two months, Anderson has a 2.47 ERA, which includes today’s dominant start. In seven innings of work, Anderson allowed just a single run and struck out 10. Anderson walked one and allowed five singles, but only one Marlins player managed to even hit a fly ball off him on the day. Anderson now has a 3.13 ERA and a 3.44 FIP and 3.36 xFIP to back it, suggesting nothing he’s done so far has been a fluke.

Of course, it helped that the offense came with the wood today against rookie Justin Nicolino and company, compiling seven runs on 13 hits and four walks, including a two-run homer in the second from Scott Van Slyke that secured a Dodgers lead they wouldn’t surrender the rest of the game. After the Marlins manufactured a run in the first, thus probably sending Kevin Kennedy into endless orgasms, the Dodgers took over. Following the aforementioned SVS dinger, two runs scored on a Jimmy Rollins single in the fourth, and yet another came home on an Anderson single. In the fifth they struck again for a run behind an Alex Guerrero bases loaded single, and Howie Kendrick added an insurance run in the eighth with a single of his own.

Adam Liberatore pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing a single but then striking out the side, which setup Pedro Baez‘s return from the DL. Baez looked like his normal self, pumping fastballs at 96-98 mph, and he also struck out the side in the ninth to finish up the game.

—–

-Kendrick went 4-for-5 on the night to lead the Dodgers, with Adrian Gonzalez and Guerrero having the other multi-hit evenings.

–Yasiel Puig pinch-hit and played the field, suggesting he’s about ready to enter the starting lineup again.

–Joc Pederson hit a double to dead center that missed being a homer by about a foot, and that was the Dodgers only other extra-base hit of the game besides the SVS dinger. Everybody wanted more hits and less dingers, right? Wheeeee…