MIAMI (AP) -- Chris Capuano was well aware he was working on a no-hit bid, thanks to a fan who constantly gave him updates.
Capuano held Miami hitless until the
seventh inning and Hanley Ramirez drove in three runs against his former
team, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Marlins 5-0 Sunday.
"I started thinking about it a little
bit probably after the fifth, sixth," Capuano said. "I had a nice
heckler today when I was in the on-deck circle that kept reminding me. I
actually turned to him and said, `Yeah, I know.'"
Capuano (11-8) shut down the Marlins until Jose Reyes lined a clean single to center field with one out in the seventh.
"Jose's got a quick bat. I left one over the middle and he smoked it," Capuano said.
Capuano allowed two hits in eight
innings, striking out nine. The 33-year-old lefty had lost his last
three starts with a 6.75 ERA in that span.
"He's tough and he's tough for a
younger club," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "They've got some
older guys, but they've got some younger guys that he can really pull
the string and rock you back and forth, hard, soft, hard, soft. That's
tough for young hitters."
Ramirez, acquired in a trade with the
Marlins on July 25, hit a sacrifice fly in the third. He added a two-run
single in eighth, giving him 500 career RBIs.
"His swing is great and if he just
takes his hits, he's going to drive in a ton of runs, but he's going to
hit more home runs too," Mattingly said. "Hanley can hit. He sees the
ball early. He's a talented cat."
Ramirez went 6 for 13 with five RBIs in his first series against his former club. He was booed before each at-bat.
"Only my first at-bat (was emotional)," Ramirez said. "After that everything was back to normal. I was trying to do my job."
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead into the
eighth, and Heath Bell relieved Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc (1-2).
After getting one out, Bell allowed four straight hits, including the
single by Ramirez and an RBI single by Andre Ethier.
Luis Cruz added an RBI double off Chris Hatcher to push the Dodgers lead to 5-0.
"The game went from a very good game to very bad game in one inning," Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen said.
Capuano allowed a bloop single by Nick
Green in the eighth before Jamey Wright came on to pitch a perfect
ninth. Capuano threw 69 of 102 pitches for strikes.
"He's got an unbelievable changeup and
when he throws that fastball at 88, it looks like 100," said Reyes, who
played with Capuano last season with the New York Mets.
LeBlanc pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing one run and six hits.
NOTES:
Matt Treanor was the Dodgers' catcher. His wife, Olympic beach
volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor, was at the game. ... The
Marlins optioned C Brett Hayes to Triple-A New Orleans. C Rob Brantly,
acquired in a trade with Detroit last month, will have his contract
selected from Triple-A New Orleans on Monday. ... Ethier's .368 batting
average (49 for 133) against the Marlins is the highest among active
players with at least 125 plate appearances. ... It was LeBlanc's
longest outing since pitching eight innings on April 24, 2011, while
with San Diego. ... The Dodgers begin a four-game series at Pittsburgh
on Monday and will send RHP Aaron Harang (7-7, 3.80 ERA) to the mound to
face RHP Jeff Karstens (4-2, 3.77). ... Miami will host Philadelphia
for a three-game set, with RHP Josh Johnson (7-8, 3.88) opposing
Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (4-9, 4.86) in the opener.
