Gonzalez hits Los Angeles with a bang
Adrian Gonzalez provided a Hollywood script in his first outing in Los Angeles, pounding a three-run home run in his first at-bat to help the Dodgers to an 8-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
Fresh off a private jet following his trade from the Boston Red Sox, first baseman Gonzalez hammered the second pitch he faced in Dodger blue over the right field wall, just the sixth Dodger to hit a home run in his debut at-bat.
"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and trying to be aggressive I got a fastball middle in and was able to stay inside it and put a good swing on it," Gonzalez said.
"It was a great way to get things started here. It was amazing. Clayton Kershaw did an unbelievable job throwing the ball and the guys were very impressive right down the line, one through nine. It's a great team and I'm excited to be here."
After trailing 1-0 in the first, the Dodgers went after Marlin pitcher Josh Johnson with Gonzalez's three-run shot coming after Luis Cruz's double scored Mark Ellis, giving the home side a 4-1 lead.
Later Ellis and Andre Ethier each powered solo homers.
A.J. Ellis and Luis Cruz drove in another run each to keep the Dodgers in control, with the Marlins only able to add one more run thanks to a Giancarlo Stanton solo blast in the second.
Ethier, with his 10th straight hit dating to Wednesday, set a new record for the LA Dodgers and matched the franchise mark Ed Konetchy set for Brooklyn from June 28 to July 1 in 1919.
The Dodgers moved to LA from Brooklyn in 1958.
Ethier can set a new major league record with three more consecutive hits, to break the mark of 12 held jointly by Walt Dropo (1952 Red Sox) and Johnny Kling (1902 Cubs).
The Dodgers improved to 69-58 to draw within two games of National League West leaders San Francisco after the Giants fell to Atlanta earlier in the day. The Marlins (57-71) remain anchored to the bottom of the NL East.
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