Yasiel Puig leads hot Dodgers outfield in May

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers go for their second straight win on Tuesday night, hosting the Marlins in the middle game of a three-game series, and look for continued production out of the outfield.

Five of the top six OPS on the team in May are by outfielders, with Drew Butera's power-infused .238/.333/.619 mixed in between. The quintet of Yasiel Puig, Scott Van Slyke, Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have combined to hit .352/.418/.534 this month, with seven home runs, nine doubles, eight steals, 26 runs batted in and 22 runs scored in 13 games.

That group combined to hit .237/.313/.412 in March and April.

In May the Dodgers outfield leads baseball in adjusted weighted runs created (164) and on-base percentage, is second in weighted on-base average (.406), batting average and OPS.

The chief culprit has been Puig, who has wreaked havoc throughout his career-best 12-game hitting streak, hitting .408/.500/.694 with four home and 15 RBI during the streak. He has driven in and scored a run in each of his last four games, and has homered in three of his last four contests.

It is quite timely that Tuesday night is Yasiel Puig bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium, even if the giveaway doesn't look much like him at all.

Josh Beckett gets the start for the Dodgers on Tuesday, having followed up his back-to-back outings of five scoreless innings last month with three straight starts lasting at least 6⅔ innings, with a 2.95 ERA during that span with 18 strikeouts and four walks in 21⅓ innings.

Beckett took the loss on May 2 in Miami, allowing four runs but also struck out eight and walked one it what was a 2-0 game into the seventh inning.

One night later the Dodgers faced Jacob Turner, starting Tuesday night for Miami. The Dodgers tagged the right-hander for six runs in four innings, with the big blow a three-run home run from ... you guessed it, Puig.

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA