Associated Press Sports
updated 11:26 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2012
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer on the second pitch he saw in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform, and Andre Ethier tied a franchise record with his 10th straight hit in an 8-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
Clayton Kershaw pitched three-hit ball over eight innings for the new-look Dodgers, hours after they acquired Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett in a blockbuster trade with Boston.
Ethier and Mark Ellis also went deep for Los Angeles.
Gonzalez, a four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove first baseman, batted cleanup between Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez, with Ethier dropped to sixth despite his four hits and four RBIs in Friday night's 11-4 win over the Marlins.
Ethier had his second straight four-hit game Saturday. He gave the Dodgers a 7-2 lead in the fifth with a leadoff homer against reliever Wade LeBlanc and added a bloop single to center in the seventh for his 10th consecutive hit, tying a club mark that was set in 1919 by first baseman Ed Konetchy.
Kershaw (12-7) struck out eight, walked two and yielded one hit in his final six innings. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner is 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA in his last six starts, lowering his overall ERA to 2.84.
Marlins starter Josh Johnson (7-11) threw 89 pitches in three innings, giving up six runs and 10 hits and retiring only nine of the 20 batters he faced in his shortest outing this season. The two-time All-Star has lost his last four starts.
Johnson used up 45 pitches during the Dodgers' four-run first, which began with doubles by Ellis and Luis Cruz. Kemp singled Cruz to third and Gonzalez sent a towering drive deep into the lower seats in the right-field corner on an 0-1 pitch.
Ellis homered to left-center on the right-hander's second pitch of the second inning, and A.J. Ellis increased the lead to 6-2 with an RBI single in the third.
Gorkys Hernandez doubled in the top of the first and scored on Jose Reyes' groundout. Giancarlo Stanton led off the Marlins' second with his 28th homer and seventh in 10 games, a drive deep into the left-field pavilion estimated at 452 feet.
NOTES: Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley, who came out of Friday's series opener after 3 1-3 innings and 58 pitches because of inflammation in his elbow, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He is 6-0 with a 1.80 ERA over his last seven starts. ... Nick Punto, another player in the big trade, made his Dodgers debut in the eighth as a pinch-hitter for Kershaw. He drew a walk and scored on a single by Cruz. ... Gonzalez became the sixth player to homer in his first at-bat with the Dodgers since they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles after the 1957 season, and the first to do it since Juan Rivera on July 15, 2011. ... Rivera started in LF in place of Shane Victorino, scratched because of back tightness. Rivera was platooning at 1B with James Loney before Loney was dealt to the Red Sox. ... Gonzalez, born in San Diego, played in 45 games at Dodger Stadium during his five seasons with the Padres and batted .212 with five homers and 21 RBIs in 165 at-bats. The Marlins made him the first overall pick in the 2000 draft, but traded him six days later to Texas for reliever Ugueth Urbina. ... Johnson has allowed a homer in four consecutive starts, tying a career worst. He also did it late in the 2006 season. ... Dodgers pitchers have allowed first-inning runs in each of the first five games on this homestand.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsGonzalez has a blast in blue
??It only took two pitches for Adrian Gonzalez to make his impact felt with the Dodgers, hitting a three-run home run in Los Angeles' 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
Getty ImagesSource: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48792888/
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