The Miami Marlins got exactly the kind of performance they needed to halt their recent slide, riding a dominant outing from Janson Junk to a gritty 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
Junk was in complete control, scattering just three hits across six scoreless innings to earn the win and outduel Shohei Ohtani in a rare pitcher-only matchup for the two-way superstar. It marked the first time since July that Junk delivered six shutout frames, as he struck out four and walked just one in an efficient performance that set the tone early.
Ohtani, making his second start in three weeks without appearing in the Dodgers’ batting order, was sharp but not flawless. The right-hander allowed two runs only one earned on five hits over six innings while striking out nine and walking three. Pitching on five days’ rest for the first time this season, Ohtani kept Los Angeles within striking distance but couldn’t match Junk’s zeroes.
Miami broke through in the second inning when Agustín Ramírez sparked a rally after being hit by a pitch. He swiped second base and advanced to third on Ohtani’s throwing error before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Owen Caissie to make it 1-0.
The Marlins added what proved to be the decisive run in the fifth, as Kyle Stowers delivered a two-out RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Dodgers finally broke through in the eighth inning against reliever Michael Petersen. Freddie Freeman singled and moved to third on Will Smith’s RBI base hit to right, cutting the deficit to 2-1. But Miami’s bullpen slammed the door from there. John King entered and quickly extinguished the threat, retiring Kyle Tucker on a pop-up before getting Max Muncy to ground out weakly.
In the ninth, Tyler Phillips bounced back from a blown save the night before, locking down his second save of the season with a clean inning.
There was also a tense moment in the eighth when plate umpire Clint Vondrak was struck in the mask by a pitch from Blake Treinen. The impact knocked off his mask, but after being evaluated, he remained in the game.
Miami also dealt with a late lineup change as catcher Liam Hicks was scratched due to illness.
With the win, the Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak and will look to secure the series in Wednesday’s finale. Miami is set to send ace Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 3.05 ERA) to the mound against Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow (3-0, 2.45 ERA) in what shapes up to be a marquee pitching matchup.
