The Miami Marlins didn’t stand a chance the moment Clayton Kershaw entered the mound.

The longtime ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers struck out ten batters, including the first seven he faced and allowed only two hits, cruising to a 9-1 win on Wednesday.

“Sometimes you get in that groove early,” Kershaw said. “I really don’t care how we get the outs as long as I’m efficient with it. Tonight I was able to get ahead and did a decent job with fastball command.”

Harold Ramirez hit a two-out single to right field in the fifth inning to break up Kershaw’s bid for a perfect game.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner left after 90 pitches and a double. He seems to be on his way to a fourth with a 12-2 record and a 2.63 ERA in 21 starts.

“Obviously Clayton doesn’t want to come out of any game, especially when you feel as good as he did tonight,” Roberts said. “He wasn’t stressed at all. Tonight was as good as I’ve seen with all his pitches, mainly his fastball.”

The dominant performance earned Kershaw his 165th win, tying Dodgers Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax.

“Any time you’re mentioned with Sandy it’s special,” Kershaw said.

Justin Turner and Corey Seager each hit a home run off Elieser Hernandez in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.

Edwin Rios, who is from Miami and played college ball at FIU, hit a home run in the fourth and sixth inning.

“Just felt great being back at the 305, where I went to school,” Rios said. “It was awesome just hearing the fans yell FIU, when I was on deck.”

Hernandez pitched six innings and gave up six runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.

“I give a lot of credit to them,” said Hernandez, who struck out seven, through an interpreter. “They did a great job. Their lineup is strong, and all the mistakes I made, I paid for them.”

Curtis Granderson hit a pinch-hit homer off in the ninth inning to avoid the shutout. The Dodgers have won all five games against the Marlins in dominating fashion but to Don Mattingly, the glass is  half full.

“The games with L.A., in particular, I think they’re good because they kind of let you know where you’re at,” the Marlins manager said. “They’re one of probably three teams, maybe four, that legitimately — if they don’t win the World Series, they’re going to look at it like it’s a bad year.”

Walker Buehler (10-2, 3.08) will be tasked with securing the season series sweep on Thursday, while the Marlins will counter with Caleb Smith (7-6, 3.71).

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Miami needing one more win to reach the 80-win mark.

They reached that bench mark by unloading a barrage of bombs to fry the Miami Marlins 15-1 on Tuesday.

The Dodgers added to their National League leading home run total with six homers. Los Angeles also has the highest winning percentage with a home run in the National League at .731.

“It was as good a night as we’ve had all year, and that’s saying a lot,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Just a relentless approach.”

Will Smith hit two home runs, one in the fourth inning right after Corey Seager hit his 10th of the season and another in the sixth inning. Since being given the starting catcher role on July 27, the rookie catcher has knocked in a hit in 11 of 14 games, going 16-for-45 (.356) with 10 runs, seven doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs in his second big league stint.

“It’s special to be here,” Smith said. “It’s a special team. Eighty wins already, but we’re trying to work for those last couple wins at the end of the year.”

“He’s taken it and run,” Roberts said. “He really has. Most importantly, behind the plate and his relationship with the pitchers, with [pitching coach Rick Honeycutt] as far as gameplanning. Just in the batter’s box, he’s really continued what he did in Triple-A. To see that maturity, the confidence, it’s very rare, especially when you’re playing with a team that is trying to win a championship. For him, it just makes us that much better.”

Cody Bellinger also tied a career high with his 39th home run when he and Justin Turner teed off Wei-Yin Chen back-to-back in the seventh inning.

“Everyone wants to be great on this team,” Bellinger said. “That’s what we’re showing.”

The Marlins have given up 13 extra-base hits, the most in club history. Miami has also given up a home run in 15 straight games.

“It doesn’t feel good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “but it’s just one game.”

The Miami Marlins didn’t have enough leftover magic from Saturday’s thrilling comeback win to carry them over to Sunday. Sean Newcomb helped secure the Atlanta Braves’ 5-4 win with two strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth before Andrew Swarzak came in to finish the inning. It was enough to be considered redemption after giving up the winning run on Saturday’s 7-6 Marlins win.

Shortly after Martin Prado hit the walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, Newcomb furiously kicked a metal garbage can towards a fire extinguisher in the dugout tunnel, which then sent chemical dust and smoke spewing down, making its way into the visitors clubhouse at Marlins Park. The smoke also went into Marlins Mermaids locker room, which kept the dance squad from leaving on time. 

“We were all kind of laughing afterward and were like, ‘It stinks we lost, but we’ll remember this,'” said Luke Jackson, who got the save for the Braves on Sunday. “It was funny. These are the teams that win championships. You lose a game, but you build camaraderie, and I think it’s a win.”

It doesn’t take much to create a rally icon in baseball. For the Braves this weekend, a busted up fire extinguisher did the trick. Ronald Acuna and Ender Inciarte homered to carry Atlanta to victory.

“It was a good thing that happened,” Inciarte said. “We lost the game, a rough game, but everybody was thinking about the fire extinguisher. We were not thinking about what happened in the game.”

Not everyone on the Braves was present during the incident. Mike Foltynewicz, who got the win on Sunday, was in the team hotel before it happened and entered the ballpark shocked when he heard about it.

“I couldn’t believe that story,” Foltynewicz said. “I literally couldn’t believe it, I came in here and heard the stories, and it put a laugh on my face.”

Because of Newcomb’s tirade, the cleanup crew was in Marlins Park until early morning on Sunday. By the time they finished, they could’ve went straight to church. Sean Newcomb reportedly apologized to the stadium employees and even offered to pay for any damage.

The Marlins split the series with the Braves and took their only two home wins against their division rival.

“We had to fight like hell to get a split, and I’ll take that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “This place was haunted for us these last four days.”

The Marlins will finally get to see what they truly got in return for the reigning National League MVP after calling up centerfielder Lewis Brinson and second baseman Isan Diaz, as reported by Craig Mish.

Sources indicate the Miami Marlins are calling up Isan Diaz from New Orleans.

— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) August 4, 2019

Diaz will be making his MLB debut as soon as he takes the field in New York. The Marlins are beginning a four-game series against the Mets which includes a doubleheader on Monday. He slashed 305/.395/.578 with 26 HRs and 21 2Bs in Triple-A New Orleans. The .305 batting average makes it the perfect time for him to come to Miami.

Diaz was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft but was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016 along with pitcher Chase Anderson and third baseman Aaron Hill for shortstop Jean Segura. He hit 20 home runs in Single-A Carolina that year.

Starlin Castro has been the everyday second baseman this season but has been seen taking grounders from third base this weekend when the Marlins were playing the Tampa Bay Rays. He will likely move to the hot corner once Diaz joins the team.

Lewis Brinson was originally the centerpiece of the Christian Yellich trade and was the first to make it to the big leagues in 2018. He slashed .199/.240/.338 with 11 home runs in 109 games. He looked impressive in spring training but was sent down on April 30 after hitting .197 in 27 games. He’s slashed .270/.361/.510 with 16 home runs and 16 stolen bases in Triple-A so there is heavy optimism that he will showcase his potential this time around.

Outfielder Cesar Puello is likely going to the 10-day IL to make room for him. He left Sunday’s game in the fourth inning due to left hip flexor tightness. He has batted .179 in 32 games since being acquired by the Los Angeles Angels for cash on June 19.

Starting pitcher Jordan Yamamotto was also included in the trade package. Since being called up he’s 4-2 with a 3.94 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 48 innings.

The Miami Marlins found themselves in the same position as they were in the previous game, down multiple runs in the bottom of the ninth facing a Minnesota Twins reliever that’s not the closer. Unlike on Wednesday, the Marlins emerged on top with a 5-4 walk-off win in 12 innings on Thursday to avoid the series sweep.

Former Marlins pitcher Sam Dyson, who was recently traded to Minnesota, entered the game in the ninth inning tasked to protect a 4-1 lead. He walked Curtis Granderson to lead off the inning. A single by Martin Prado put runners at the corners and a base hit by Jon Berti cut the lead to 4-2.

Brian Anderson, who hit a grand slam on Wednesday, walked to load up the bases for Neil Walker. Twins closer Taylor Rogers replaced Dyson but a ground ball by Walker barely went by the shortstop and scored two runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Similar to his previous appearance, Rogers ended the inning with three consecutive strikeouts. Marlins reliever Jeff Brigham got his first career win by throwing two perfect innings in the 11th and 12th with two strikeouts, keeping the game tied for Harold Ramirez to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom half of the 12th inning.

“I really just tried to get on base,” Ramirez said. “I didn’t try to do too much, because we needed somebody to get on base.”

The Marlins lost a one-run game on Tuesday, made it interesting at the end on Wednesday after a terrible start by their lone All-Star and won in extra innings by coming back in the ninth against a team that built itself into a playoff caliber squad with a young foundation and veteran producers. Miami could very well be where Minnesota currently is within the next few years.

“All I can say is, they’ve got a lot of good, young players,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “They remind me of Tampa. A team that up and down the lineup, they’ve got good players. They might not all be household names at this point. But when you’re trying to get them out, there’s a lot of good players there.