Marlins 3 - 5 Dodgers
Final
  for this game

Dodgers eye back-to-back wins, series triumph over Marlins

May 12, 2013 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The albatross that was an eight-game losing streak has been lifted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

April showers did not provide May flowers for the Dodgers, who look to string together back-to-back wins Sunday and post a series win over the Miami Marlins in the finale of a three-game set.

The Dodgers ended the season-high skid with Saturday's 7-1 win over the Marlins and rebounded from a 5-4 loss in the series opener. Dee Gordon homered, Skip Schumaker drove in three runs and Andre Ethier came alive with a 4-for-4 effort and three runs scored.

"Those were four great at-bats, four great swings," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said of Ethier, who has been making adjustments at the plate. "When he's squaring the ball up and doing that, it's fun to watch. He's been grinding and working so hard in the cage to get his swing right."

L.A. rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu pushed his record to 4-2 by holding the Marlins to a run in 6 2/3 innings.

"He was really good tonight. He set the tone, putting up all those zeroes," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Ryu. "It's been a battle for us, but it's win and hopefully this will start us in the right direction."

Mattingly could get another arm back soon, as starter Zack Greinke is eyeing a return to the mound. Fully recovered from a broken collarbone suffered in a scuffle against the San Diego Padres, Greinke threw his first rehab assignment Friday at Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Whether his next start is in the bigs or in the minors has yet to be confirmed.

"It won't be his decision," Mattingly noted on the team's website before Saturday's game. "It's not so much that he's ready to pitch here, it's that they're willing to take the risk of everything that could happen while he's pitching here. I think we would all like it to be here. But I'd also like him to be totally ready."

Los Angeles is 1-4 on a nine-game homestand and will welcome the Washington Nationals to Chavez Ravine on Monday.

Chris Capuano gets the nod for the Dodgers Sunday and he has lost his last two appearances, including a 9-2 setback versus Arizona on Monday. He was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- in only four innings. Capuano has allowed 10 earned runs over his recent funk.

The left-hander, who is 0-2 with a 10.38 earned run average in four games (2 starts) this season, has faced the Marlins 15 times (14 starts) in his career, going 5-5 with a 3.68 ERA.

Miami hopes to end its 10-game junket on a positive note and is 3-6 on the journey. The Marlins, who posted the win in this series opener, fell back into the loss column on Saturday when Kevin Slowey was saddled with defeat for giving up 11 hits and five runs over 4 2/3 frames.

"Kevin was battling from the start. He tried to keep us in the game, but nothing was easy for him tonight," noted Marlins manager Mike Redmond. "Other than Miguel's home run, we were pretty quiet."

Miguel Olivo posted the club's only run with a leadoff homer in the top of the seventh inning. Placido Polanco had a team-best two hits for the Marlins, who will return to south Florida this evening for a nine-game residency versus Cincinnati, Arizona and Philadelphia.

Hoping to pitch the Fish to their first road series win of the season Sunday will be Tom Koehler. The righty has made only one major league start in his career and has no record and a 3.18 ERA in six relief assignments in 2013. He has pitched no more than three innings in a game this season and will take on the Dodgers for the first time.

Miami has lost five of the six games Koehler has appeared in.

L.A. won four of six games against the Marlins a season ago.






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