Puig’s home run lifts Dodgers over Marlins

Yasiel Puig shoveled his bat towards the first-base dugout during the ninth inning of the Marlins 6-4 loss to the Dodgers, his back facing the flight of the baseball he just demolished. He didn’t need to watch it.The ball clanged off the Marlins home run sculpture in left-center field as he celebrated pulling the Dodgers from a second-half opening loss to Miami. On the mound, Marlins closer AJ Ramos asked for a new ball as Puig rounded the bases Friday night.Ramos was one strike away against three different batters from extending the Marlins’ three-game winning streak. Instead, Puig’s three-run home run rendered a Marlins ninth-inning lead moot, and snatched away a Miami victory. Ramos had two strikes on Joc Pederson. Pederson singled to right field. Ramos had two strikes on Yasmani Grandal. Grandal walked. Ramos had two strikes on Puig. Puig uncorked a no-doubt, 412-foot home run, his second of the night.For Ramos, it was his first blown save since June 17, a string of 10 straight appearances. For Miami, it soured a potentially great return from the All-Star break against baseball’s best team.Highlighted by Justin Bour’s two-run double, the Marlins (41-47) tagged Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy for three runs in the fifth inning, flipping a two-run deficit into a one-run lead. Bour’s double to left-center plated Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna (walk). Stanton’s own double scored Dee Gordon.The three-run fifth inning backed a solid effort from Marlins right-hander Dan Straily, though he gave up at least one home run for the fifth straight start.The Dodgers (62-29) victimized Straily by clubbing a pair of massive home runs in the top of the fifth inning that gave them a 3-1 lead. Puig launched a 71-mph curveball 449 feet that nearly reached the Budweiser bar beyond left field. Three batters later, Corey Seager blasted a solo shot to right-field’s upper deck.The Marlins defense gifted the Dodgers a run in the second inning. With two outs and men on the corners, Los Angeles catcher Grandal took off for second base. J.T. Realmuto’s throw to Gordon was on time, but Gordon botched the catch.Pederson dashed home from third in time to beat Gordon’s high throw. An out would have ended the inning. The Dodgers scored instead. The haze was trapped in Marlins Park on Friday night. In the fading paint behind the plate and down the baselines, and in the grass design in center field, the memory of this week’s All-Star Game made itself known.The atmosphere reflected a return to normalcy, a spectators’ hangover from the sellout, raucous crowds that populated the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game. For the first time in weeks, a placid crowd inhabited Marlins Park.The next few weeks offer a crucial pivot for the Marlins. The club could be sold by Jeffrey Loria, and its assets traded. Or the team could resemble the one that finished the first half by winning six of eight games.Prior to the start of Friday’s game, Marlins manager Don Mattingly guarded against the assumption that “as soon as the All-Star Game is over, there’s going to be an announcement of this or that.” He cautioned his team about letting its mind wander.“I just want to make sure that we just stay focused on playing baseball no matter what happens,” Mattingly said before the game. “One way or the other, it is our responsibility to come here ready to play and play hard every day.”