Led by Cody Bellinger’s cycle, Dodgers overpower Marlins

No Marlin has ever hit for the cycle.

But they gave one up to Cody Bellinger on Saturday night at Marlins Park.

Bellinger’s two-run homer kick-started a five-run third inning for the Dodgers that helped the team with the best record in the majors secure a 7-1 victory over the Marlins and their eighth win in a row overall.

It was the first cycle allowed by the Marlins since Rockies great Todd Helton accomplished the feat against them on June 19, 1999, in Colorado.

The Marlins had also never faced a 10-0 pitcher until Alex Wood took the mound on Saturday night.

Wood added one more victory to his record after pitching six shutout innings.

Along with the homer, Bellinger singled in the first, doubled in the fourth and tripled in the seventh to become the first Dodgers rookie to hit for the cycle. He also became the ninth Dodger player to accomplish the feat and the first since Orlando Hudson on April 13, 2009.

Bellinger’s four hits were also a career high.

“He’s been doing that kind of stuff all year,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We just got a better view of it tonight.”

A night after coming within a strike of victory, the Marlins (41-48) couldn’t overcome Jose Urena’s shortest outing since joining the rotation in early May.

Urena, one of the few bright spots for the Marlins before the All-Star break, lasted only three innings and gave up those five runs in the third, which led to his exit after 82 pitches.

Urena lost for only the second time in his past 11 starts and allowed more than three runs for only the third time in 14 starts since moving into the rotation on May 7.

“Seems like [the Dodgers] got to his breaking ball a little bit,” Mattingly said. “He just didn’t get the pitch to where he wanted it.”

Tempers flared a bit during the second inning when Cuban star Yasiel Puig, who hit the go-ahead homer in the Dodgers’ 6-4 comeback win Friday night, took exception to an inside pitch from Urena. Puig shouted at Urena, who approached the plate, but both players were held back as several players from both sides walked on the field.

“I threw the same pitch [before] by [Chris] Taylor,” Urena said. “[Puig] got like a little baby.

“I saw when he was walking [toward] me. For me, that was disrespect. I play the game. I respect the game. If you do something like that, if I go, let’s go, you know.”

The Marlins and Dodgers had another bench-clearing situation earlier this season in Los Angeles when Ross Stripling threw a pitch behind the back of Giancarlo Stanton, leading to the ejection of Stripling, Mattingly and Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren.

But tensions didn’t escalate to that point Saturday night, and Mattingly said he didn’t believe the prior scuffle had any bearing on Puig and Urena’s confrontation.

“I don’t think they have any history, so not sure what was going on there,” Mattingly said.

Dodger fans watching the game celebrated their team’s 28th win in their past 32 games, and some unfurled a massive flag displaying their team’s logo that covered most of Section 2 located up the right-field line in foul territory.

Many of them belonged to the L.A.-based Pantone 294 fan group (named after the official color tone of the Dodgers), which travels to road games en masse as they did last September when they crowded a large section of Yankee Stadium in similar fashion during a trip to New York.

Former University of Miami and Miami Springs High star Yasmani Grandal followed Bellinger’s homer in the third with a three-run shot of his own.

All five runs came with two outs.

Urena wiggled out of trouble in the first and second innings after the Dodgers (63-29) put runners in scoring position in each frame.

It looked like Urena would do the same in the third when Justin Turner grounded into a double play, leaving Taylor, who led off the inning with a single, at third with two outs.

But Bellinger reached down and drove a slider over the Marlins’ bullpen in right field to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Urena’s troubles continued as he walked Logan Forsythe, allowed a single to Joc Pederson and then, after a brief visit to the mound by pitching coach Juan Nieves, threw a similar slider that Grandal drove just inside the right-field foul pole.

On the flip side, Wood continued to be spectacular.

Wood, who four days earlier made his first All-Star Game appearance at Marlins Park, improved to 11-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.56 in 14 starts this season.

Wood gave up only three hits, walked one and struck out four.

JT Riddle’s single in the seventh off reliever Pedro Baez broke the shutout and scored Justin Bour, who doubled with two outs in the inning.

This story was originally published July 15, 2017 at 10:38 PM with the headline "Led by Cody Bellinger’s cycle, Dodgers overpower Marlins."