Dodgers rookie Ross Stripling stands strong, yet victory eludes him

2:52 AM ET

LOS ANGELES — There was one guy Los Angeles Dodgers rookie starter Ross Stripling did not want to beat him Monday. That one guy beat him.

The Miami Marlins pulled off a 3-2 victory in the opener of a four-game series as Giancarlo Stanton drive in a pair of runs with a fourth-inning home run and a fifth-inning double.

“We were just trying to keep him off-balance,” Stripling said. “The elevated curveball he hit out, it wasn’t a great pitch, but I wasn’t expecting him to be all over it starting an inning like that. We were keeping it away from him. We walked him in the first and then the weird at-bat in the fifth.”

Just how weird? Stanton was basically a zombie, who couldn’t be put down. First there was the pitch low and away from Stripling that looked like strike three, yet was called a ball. Then there was Stanton’s foul ball down the first-base side that Yasmani Grandal could not get underneath for the out.

Ross Stripling has recorded a 3.22 ERA in his four starts, but fell to 0-1 after Monday night’s loss to the Marlins. Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

Yes, that Grandal, the catcher, who was giving regular first baseman Adrian Gonzalez his first break of the season. The game has a way of finding guys who are out of position.

On the very next pitch after Grandal could not come away with the foul ball along the railing, Stanton drilled a double into right-center and the Marlins had the lead for good.

Stripling was far from sharp, and the Marlins were hitting the ball hard off him the third time …

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