Van Slyke’s walk-off lifts Dodgers, adds to Marlins’ closing woes

Scott Van Slyke was 0-for-10 in his previous four games heading into Monday’s home game with Miami. 

But the Dodgers’ outfielder got back on track in a big way with three hits in four at-bats and a key defensive play in Los Angeles’ 5-3 victory. Oh yeah, Van Slyke also provided the three-run, walk-off homer leading to a wild celebration with his teammates at homeplate. 

The Dodgers have now won four straight and continue to play well without outfielder Yasiel Puig. 

It was the second straight day with a blown save for Marlins reliever Steve Cishek, who Yasmani Grandal and gave up a single to Andre Either before Van Slyke belted a pitch into the bleachers in center field. Cishek has now blown four saves in seven tries this season. 

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Cishek was only on the mound because Christian Yelich was able to hit a two-run, opposite-field homer in the top of the ninth to give the Marlins a lead. Yelich was 2-for-4 in the game with a pair of RBIs.

Van Slyke doubled to left in the fifth inning but was stranded. He singled to center in the seventh inning and scored on Joc Pedersen’s single to center. That came on the heels of Van Slyke throwing out Yelich at the plate to end the top half of the seventh inning in what was a tie game at the time. 

The play at the plate was super close and could have been reviewed, but it appeared Van Slyke’s throw barely beat Yelich. Miami has now blown leads in 11 of its 18 losses this season.

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[Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo