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 Enter Jose Urena.
The right-hander bailed Miami out of a crazy bottom of the eighth
inning and earned his first big league save, preserving Justin
Nicolino's win in a 2-0 decision Wednesday night over the Los
Angeles Dodgers.
"A couple of things didn't go our way," Urena said through an
interpreter. "It was a big moment and a great night."
Urena's wire-walk out of a mess not of his making gave the Marlins
(9-11) their fourth consecutive win, as well as their first series
victory in Dodger Stadium since 2010.
Nicolino (1-0) was pulled by manager Don Mattingly after retiring
A.J. Ellis on a grounder to start the eighth, his 7 1/3 innings
representing the longest outing for a Miami starter this year.
Nicolino gave up just two hits and two walks, fanning two.
Bryan Morris relieved and issued a four-pitch walk to pinch hitter
Chase Utley. Cody Ege came in for Morris and walked pinch hitter
Yasmani Grandal on five pitches.
 David Phelps, whom Mattingly penciled into the closer's role for the
game after A.J. Ramos notched saves on three straight days, barely
missed with 2-2 and 3-2 pitches to pinch hitter Joc Pederson to fill
the bases.
Feeling that plate umpire Todd Tichenor had squeezed the plate on
him, Phelps argued after ball four and was quickly ejected.
Mattingly took up the argument and joined Phelps in the clubhouse.
With Ramos and another right-hander, Kyle Barraclough, apparently
unavailable, Urena got the call. He responded by fanning Yasiel Puig
with a 91 mph fastball for the second out, then retired Adrian
Gonzalez on a flyout to right field.
Following his great escape, Urena breezed through the ninth,
finishing it in style by whiffing Howie Kendrick on a breaking ball
in the dirt.
"It's a great feeling to come through in a big game," Urena said.
"That will help you down the line."
While Urena came up big, the Los Angeles offense again came up small
in the series. The Dodgers (12-10) have managed only five runs on 14
hits in three games, and they face Marlins ace Jose Fernandez in
Thursday night's series finale.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said his team appeared to be
pressing at the plate as Nicolino continued to put up zeros in an
efficient fashion, using only 99 pitches to obtain his 22 outs.
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"There was some hard contact out there," Roberts said, "but when
they're not falling, you start looking at your last three, four
games. Some guys start looking at their average and thinking they
need to get a hit. And when you feel like you need a hit, they get
tougher."
Dodgers starter Scott Kazmir (1-2) gave up both his runs and four of
his seven hits in a shaky first that ultimately set the night's
score.
Back-to-back singles by Dee Gordon and Martin Prado set the table
for the lineup's middle. Gordon advanced to third on a Christian
Yelich lineout to Puig in right and trotted home on a broken-bat
one-out hit by Giancarlo Stanton. Marcell Ozuna's groundball single
to left plated Prado for the other run.
Kazmir threw 113 pitches in six innings, walking one and fanning six
while falling to 0-2 in his past four outings.
"Toward the end, I was able to get more comfortable and repeat my
delivery," Kazmir said of the first inning. "They were frustrating
hits, but they were nevertheless hits."
NOTES: Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said that LF Carl Crawford
probably wouldn't play more than four times per week because of his
"propensity to get injured," according to the Los Angeles Times.
Crawford was activated from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday after
recovering from a lower back ailment. ... Dodgers RHP Ross Stripling
could be skipped in the rotation next week during the team's
interleague trip to Toronto and Tampa Bay to keep his innings count
down. ... Miami optioned RHP Nick Wittgren to Triple-A New Orleans
to make room for Wednesday night's starter, LHP Justin Nicolino.
Wittgren allowed one run in two innings during two relief outings
for the Marlins.
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reserved.]
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