Julio Urias dominates as Dodgers beat Marlins in doubleheader sweep
Julio Urías continued to establish himself as the horse the Dodgers need to lead their Saturday night playoff rotation by allowing one run and five hits in seven innings, notching five strikeouts and not scoring a walk 3-1 win which completed a split-doubleheader victory for the Miami Marlins in front of a crowd of 52,688 at Chavez Ravine.
Mookie Betts, who hit a crucial two-run single in the eighth inning of the first game, fueled the offense in the nightcap with the 28th multi-homer game of his career, firing a 402-foot solo shot into left field in the third inning and a 419-foot solo shot to left center in the fifth from Marlin’s left-hander Braxton Garrett.
His 33rd and 34th homers of the season put Betts on one of the 35 career homers the leadoff man hit for the Dodgers in 2022.
Betts, who took his run total to 101 for the sixth time in seven full seasons, hitting 100 runs or more, hits .379 (61 for 161) with 14 homers, 17 doubles, 39 RBIs, 43 runs and 29 walks and 24 Strikeouts in 41 games since June 28.
Urías, who struggled with an injury (hamstring) and inconsistency in the first half, is on a similar course of dominance on the mound, improving to 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his last five starts that the left-hander conceded seven earned runs and 24 hits in 31 innings, with 32 strikeouts and four walks, to improve to 11-6 with a 4.15 ERA this season.
Urías conceded a solo home run to Josh Bell in the first inning, whose two-out shot went 431 feet into the left midfield pavilion and gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead and nothing else, thanks to his ability to set two jams escape.
Miami went two games without outs in the third set when Nick Fortes was hit by a pitch and Jon Berti hit a single to the right, but Urías knocked out heavy-hitting leadoff man Jorge Soler with a 90-mile cut fastball and scored a .360 shot Luis Arraez flies to left field and Bell jumps to first base to end the inning.
Mookie Betts leads bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning against the Marlins on Saturday night.
(Ryan Sun/Associated Press)
The Dodgers tied the score 1-1 at the end of the second half after making their two positional trade deadline acquisitions when Amed Rosario took the lead with a double down the left and after Kiké Hernández ‘ two-out single on the right scored.
Urías was busted in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, but got into even more trouble in the seventh inning when Jake Burger took the lead with a single and Avisail Garcia hit a two-out double off the left field wall to open the runners up to take second and third place.
But as LeBron James watched the Lakers star’s bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium from a club-level suite, Urías sent Fortes flying into left field with his 100th and final pitch of the night to take the 3-1 lead to secure.
Ryan Brasier gave up a hit and knocked out one in a scoreless eighth inning, and Brusdar Graterol evaded a second and third two-out jam early in the ninth inning when Hernández slow roller pinch-hitter Jesus Sanchez for the third and third Inning attack made a wide, off-balance throw for the first time, making for an out that was confirmed after a retest. This gave the Dodgers a 9-1 home win and their 17th win in 19 games.
