Dodgers officially have themselves a winning streak

The offense showed up, Clayton Kershaw struck out 11 and the Dodgers officially have a winning streak, as they won their third straight game, taking down the Marlins 9-6.

The Dodgers really opened up the flood gates in the second inning. They scored eight runs all while the Marlins could record only one out. Chris Taylor walked to lead off the inning and Gavin Lux followed with a double. The first run came in on an AJ Pollock single and then two more on an Austin Barnes double. While running to third, Pollock re-injured his left hamstring and exited the game.

Clayton Kershaw, who is looking to add a Silver Slugger to his trophy case, brought in a run with a single. On the season, Kershaw is hitting .308 with two RBI. It won’t take much, so he has a legitimate campaign so far.

The hitting just kept on coming, as Mookie Betts and Corey Seager had back-to-back hits to give LA a 5-0 lead. The first six hitters of the inning reached base, with the last five reaching with a hit. After Justin Turner struck out for the first out, Max Muncy crushed his eighth home run of the season and his third over his last three games to give LA the 8-0 lead.

Sandy Alcantara, who had been fantastic for the Marlins all season, was chased after 1 ¹⁄₃ innings. His eight earned runs pushed his ERA from just above two to above four.

It was a good thing the Dodgers offense gave Kershaw that big of a cushion, because he needed it. For the most part, Kershaw looked like his vintage self. In his six innings of work he struck out 11 and issued only one walk, the 29th time that he’s done that in his career. However, the Marlins still hit him hard.

Kershaw allowed five runs on six hits. Four of the runs came in the third inning and they came with two outs. Garrett Cooper singled in a run and then Adam Duvall crushed a three-run homer into the Dodgers bullpen. Cooper struck again in the fifth as he doubled in a run to bring Miami to within three runs. The Marlins brought the tying run to the plate with one out, but Kershaw escaped the jam.

Miami had the go-ahead run at the plate in the eighth inning. After Dennis Santana loaded the bases, Victor Gonzalez relieved him with two outs. He hit his first batter, putting the tying run on first base and bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate. Luckily, Gonzalez has ice in his veins and got the strikeout to escape the inning with the three-run lead.

Kenley Jansen came in and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the save. He even touched 97!!! You really love to see it.

Friday particulars

WP: Clayton Kershaw (6-3) 6 IP, 5 ER, 11 SO, 1 BB

LP: Sandy Alcantara (1-3) 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 ER

SV: Kenley Jansen (7) 1 IP, 0 ER, 2 SO

HR: Max Muncy (8) Adam Duvall (7)

Box score