On Eve of Mega Deal, The Dodgers Defeat Miami 11-4

Dodgers 11 13 1

Marlins 4 9 2

WP- Wright (5-3)

LP- Eovaldi (4-9)

HR- Reyes (10), Ethier (13), Rivera (7), Ramirez (20), Stanton (27)

Earlier this afternoon we learned of an epic waiver deadline trade that’s close to being completed between the Boston Red Sox and the Dodgers. The Dodgers are set to send James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus, and Allen Webster to Boston in exchange for Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and Nick Punto. The deal which is still pending is expected to be announced tomorrow. We will have a more in depth look into the historic trade when it becomes official. James Loney, who was slated to start tonight, was scratched from the lineup. Adrian Gonzalez was also scratched from the Boston starting lineup, which made the deal that much more imminent. The Dodgers will be absorbing a huge amount of contract debt, but money doesn’t seem to be an issue for the new ownership. The bottom line is that we will now have a deadly combination of hitters in the lineup with Kemp, Gonzalez, Ethier, and Ramirez. Will it be enough to get the Dodgers to the postseason this year? It still will be tough.

Chad Billingsley and Nathan Eovaldi both were out of the game after the third inning. Bills exited the game with right elbow tenderness. The Dodgers jumped on their old teammate Eovaldi for 6 runs in the first three innings off of three homeruns from Ethier, Rivera, and Ramirez. The Dodgers added another two runs in the seventh off of Carlos Zambrano. Andre Ethier had four hits on the night which included a homerun and three singles. The Dodgers added five more runs in the seventh inning to give the Dodgers a blowout win.   

Chad Billingsley promptly allows a lead-off single to Bryan Peterson. Justin Ruggiano hits a long fly out, and Matt Kemp catches the carrying ball right up against the center field wall. Peterson tags up. Jose Reyes then proceeds to hit a two-run homerun to right field, and the Dodgers continue their nightmarish first-inning routine. Billingsley walks Carlos Lee. Giancarlo Stanton strikes out. Greg Dobbs makes the third out with a fly ball to left.

Former Dodger Nathan Eovaldi goes to work in familiar territory. Shane Victorino flies out to center for the first out. Mark Ellis draws a walk.

Matt Kemp singles to left. Andre Ethier, who is battling a blister on his hand, blisters a three-run shot to right field! The Dodgers take a 3-2 lead. Hanley Ramirez strikes out as his bat goes flying into the stands. Luis Cruz strikes out looking.

In the second, Donovan Solano and Rob Brantly hit back-to-back singles. Nathan Eovaldi is out on a sacrifice bunt which works to advance the runners to second and third. Peterson’s groundball allows the tying run to come home. Ruggiano fouls out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the second, Juan Rivera leads off with a solo homerun to right center field! The Dodgers retake the lead 4-3. A.J. Ellis singles. Billingsley bunts successfully, and A.J. moves to second. Victorino flies out. Mark Ellis pops out.

Billingsley has a nice 1-2-3 inning in the third.

The Dodgers go deep again in the bottom half of the third. Kemp leads off but strikes out. Ethier singles, and Hanley Ramirez hits the third Dodger homerun of the game with a two-run shot! The Dodgers lead 6-3. Luis Cruz follows with a double. Juan Rivera flies out. They intentionally walk A.J. Ellis, and Chad Billingsley grounds out to end the frame.

In the fourth, Solano draws a one-out walk. Brantly doubles off the bullpen fence in right field, and the Marlins have runners at second and third with one out. All of a sudden the coaches and trainers come out to the mound, because Billingsley is somehow hurt. He looks very worried, and he leaves the game. Jamey Wright will have as much time as he needs to warm up. Wright gives up a walk to pinch-hitter Gorkys Hernandez right away to load the bases up. Peterson strikes out, and that’s an important out for the Dodgers. Somehow Wright manages to strike out Ruggiano looking with a nice curveball, and the Marlins leave the bases loaded.

Both pitchers are out already. Chad Billingsley goes 3 1/3 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 1 strikeout on 58 pitches. Nathan Eovaldi

pitched 3 innings, allowing 7 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts on 76 pitches.

Chad Gaudin, right-hander, comes into pitch the bottom of the fourth in relief of Nathan Eovaldi. The Dodgers are retired in order.

In the fifth, Carlos Lee hits a ball down the left field line and off the third base bag for a single. Victorino makes a nice throw to Mark Ellis to get Lee out at second (TOOTBLAN).  Giancarlo Stanton then crushes a solo homerun to left, and the Dodger lead is cut to 6-4. Dobbs singles, but Solano grounds out to end the inning.

Ethier leads off the bottom of the fifth with a single which is his third hit of the game. Hanley grounds into a double play. Cruz flies out.

Scott Elbert comes into pitch the sixth inning for the Dodgers, and he retires the side in order.

Carlos Zambrano will pitch the home half of the sixth for the Marlins. A.J. Ellis sneaks a single by Reyes with one out. Adam Kennedy grounds into a double play to end the inning.

Brandon League is the fourth Dodger pitcher of the night. He strikes out Ruggiano and Reyes. Lee walks. League gets Stanton to ground into a force to end the inning in the seventh.

Victorino walks to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Mark Ellis singles, and Shane flies over to third. Matt Kemp whacks a single against Carlos Zambrano, who he totally clobbers, and Victorino brings in the seventh Dodger run of the night. Andre Ethier comes up with his fourth hit of the night, a 3-2 single, and Mark Ellis scores giving the Dodgers a 8-4 lead. That’s going to be all for Zambrano.  Ryan Webb comes out of the Miami bullpen to face Ramirez with two on and nobody out. Hanley whiffs after eleven pitches. The throw on Cruz’s little roller toward third is thrown away by Dobbs which allows two runs to score, and then the throw by Stanton to third gets away which lets Cruz come all the way around home! That was a bases clearing infield dribbler! The Dodgers hang a high-five on the board in the inning. They now have a commanding 11-4 lead.

Randy Choate will pitch the eighth inning. Solano singles. With two out, the Dodgers bring in Shawn Tolleson and Juan Uribe in a double switch. Tolleson quickly disposes of Austin Kearns by striking him out to end the inning.

Chris Hatcher, another right-hander, will pitch the bottom of the eighth. Juan Uribe predictably strikes out, and his average dips to .181 which is 2010 Garrett Anderson level. Alex Castellanos, who was just called up, also strikes out. Mark Ellis strikes out, and Hatcher ends up striking out the side.

Shawn Tolleson will try to shut the Marlins down in the ninth. Hanley Ramirez goes up the ladder to rob Peterson of a base hit. Ruggiano grounds out. Reyes reaches on an error by Juan Rivera when he can’t catch the throw by Hanley. Carlos Lee makes the last out with a grounder to first.

The Dodgers improve to 68-58. The Giants defeated the Braves, so they remain three games back in second place.

Tomorrow Clayton Kershaw will go to the mound in game two. Josh Johnson will be pitching for Miami  in a 6:10 pm game. Scott will be live tweeting from the Vin Scully Press Box, so make sure you are following us on Twitter- @LasordasLair