Teoscar Hernández 2-out prowess sets Dodgers sweep of Marlins in Stone (2024)

Wednesday’s daytime series finale wasn’t as explosive as the first two games, and runs were harder to come by. But thanks to a pair of two-out hits by Teoscar Hernández and more excellent pitching by Gavin Stone, the Dodgers beat the Marlins 3-1 and finished off their second sweep in a row.

After the Dodgers scored 14 runs in the first two games, there wan’s much of a storm under Wednesday’s sunny sky for the Marlins starter to weather. Ryan Weathers allowed only five hits and a walk in his six innings, but the sequencing of those hits cost him dearly.

With two outs in the first inning, Freddie Freeman singled off Weathers, then advanced on a balk and got to third base on a wild pitch. Hernández singled to left for the first run of the game.

That was pretty much it against Weathers until two outs in the sixth inning, this time in a tie game. Freeman again got things started with a double. After a mound visit from pitching coach ... and first base open, Weathers fell behind 3-1 to Hernández at the plate. Hernández swung through a changeup to run the count full, but did not miss the next one, and changed the complexion of the game.

Hernández has four home runs in his last six games, and his 10 on the season are tied for the second-most in the majors, behind only Shohei Ohtani’s 11 homers. Hernández by driving in all three runs on Wednesday now leads the Dodgers with 29 RBI.

Those three runs held up thanks to Gavin Stone, who completed seven innings for the second time in three starts. The right-hander struck out four and walked none, and the only tally against him was a solo home run by Bryan De La Cruz in the fourth inning.

Stone has lasted six or more innings in three straight starts and four of his last five, allowing seven total runs during that time and no more than two in any start, lowering his ERA on the season to 3.55.

With both Evan Phillips and Joe Kelly placed on the injured list within the last four days, the hierarchy in the back end of the Dodgers bullpen is still very much a fluid situation. On Wednesday, Michael Grove got the call with a two-run lead in the eighth inning, and delivered the ninth scoreless outing in his last 10 appearances.

That left the ninth inning for Daniel Hudson, who recorded his second save of the season with a perfect ninth. At one hour, 55 minutes, Wednesday was the first Dodgers nine-inning game completed in under two hours since April 17, 2006.

The Dodgers have now won seven in a row and 14 of their last 16 games. They just completed their 14th undefeated homestand of at least six games at Dodger Stadium. They’ve had longer home winning streaks, and the caveat is that for several decades both homestands and road trips were often longer than one week at a time.

But still, winning every game on a single homestand, with at least six of them, is still impressive.

Wednesday particulars

Home run: Teoscar Hernández (10)

WP — Gavin Stone (3-1): 7 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts

LP — Ryan Weathers (2-4): 6 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

Sv — Daniel Hudson (2): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

Thursday is an off day for the Dodgers, who begin a stretch of 13 game days in a row — tied for their longest stretch this season, along with August 9-21 — on Friday in San Diego (6:40 p.m., SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow starts for the Dodgers, facing Michael King for the Padres.