Yamamoto goes 8 innings and Muncy hits early slam as Dodgers beat Marlins 8-2 for 6th straight win

LOS ANGELES -- — Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched eight effective innings, Max Muncy hit a grand slam in the first and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight victory.

Gavin Lux launched his first home run of the season for the Dodgers, who have won 13 of 15. They've gone deep 14 times in their past four games.

Yamamoto (4-1) shook off a first-pitch home run to win his third consecutive start. The $325 million rookie from Japan allowed two runs and five hits in his longest major league outing. He threw 97 pitches, two short of his season high.

“The most important thing is to lead the team to the victory and ideally to stay on a low pitch count,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “If that can lead to winning, that becomes meaningful for myself.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a leadoff homer for the Marlins, who fell to 1-4 on their six-game trip. Bryan De La Cruz also went deep.

Edward Cabrera (1-2) lasted just two innings after throwing 32 of 58 pitches for strikes. He issued four walks and hit a batter with a pitch.

After the game, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said Cabrera was dealing with biceps discomfort.

“Seven total free passes: two hit by pitches and five walks,” Schumaker said. “I think they got five total hits. But that’s what they do. ... You get in bad counts and they’ll make you pay. That’s what good teams do.”

Cabrera plunked Freddie Freeman in the first and walked Shohei Othani and Will Smith to load the bases. Muncy’s opposite-field slam just cleared the wall in left for his ninth homer of the season.

“It’s always enjoyable to come to this ballpark, but the last two weeks have been pretty special,” Muncy said. “It’s a good indicator of what this group is capable of and I think everyone in here would admit that we let those two (recent defeats) get away from us.”

Los Angeles scored four more times in the third after loading the bases again. Andy Pages had a sacrifice fly, and Muncy scored from third on an errant pickoff attempt by catcher Christian Bethancourt.

Lux followed with a two-run homer off George Soriano. It was Lux’s first home run since 2022 after he missed last season with a knee injury.

“It felt good,” Lux said. “It was a long recovery road this last year and then you get off to a slow start and nobody wants to do that. It’s kind of funny. In that situation, I’m just trying to hit a flyball to center field and you just get a pitch you can handle and do that. Sometimes less is more.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: LHPs Jesus Luzardo (elbow), who last pitched on April 20, and Braxton Garrett (shoulder), who has been out all season, are expected to return during this weekend’s home series against the Phillies. ... INF Xavier Edwards (foot) was moved to the 60-day injured list as RHP Huascar Brazoban was reinstated from the restricted list and optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville.

Dodgers: LHP Clayton Kershaw threw 20 pitches in his second bullpen session since offseason shoulder surgery, an effort manager Dave Roberts said was a “really good day for all of us.” ... RHP Bobby Miller (shoulder) will have one more bullpen session before heading out on a minor league rehab assignment. ... OF Jason Heyward (back) will travel with the team to San Diego this week and take batting practice twice before heading out on a rehab assignment of anywhere from two to five games, according to Roberts.

UP NEXT

Marlins: LHP Ryan Weathers (2-3, 4.54 ERA) has a 4.66 ERA against the Dodgers in five appearances (four starts).

Dodgers: RHP Gavin Stone (2-1, 4.06) has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last four starts.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb