On Friday night, Hanley Ramirez made his first appearance at Marlins Park in a uniform other than Miami's, and he put together a three for five night against his former team. Ramirez scored a run and drove in two others as the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the weekend series with a 5-2 victory.
Miami starter Mark Buerhle was cruising against the Dodgers until he hit a rough spot in the top of the sixth. Los Angeles strung together four hits and put a four-spot up on the board to take a three-run lead they would never relinquish. Buerhle worked quickly, as he always does, striking out five and ending his night after the four-run sixth.
On offense, the Fish were quiet against ace Clayton Kershaw, who struck out seven while giving up just two earned runs. Kershaw allowed only three Miami hits and the LA bullpen locked up the win with the three-run cushion. A Justin Ruggiano homer in the bottom of the first was the only blemish until Carlos Lee brought home Gorkys Hernandez with a sac fly in the sixth.
Ricky Nolasco will face Joe Blanton on Saturday and try to even the series up.
For more on this and every series for the Marlins, head over to Fish Stripes. For some perspective from the other dugout, head over to True Blue LA, SB Nation's Los Angeles Dodgers blog. As always, you can head over to Baseball Nation for more on this and every MLB baseball game.