While the Marlins were only able to win one of their three games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, three Southern Californians on the Marlins roster-- Christian Yelich, Reed Johnson and Giancarlo Stanton-- managed to put up great numbers at the plate in front of their home state fans.
The Miami Marlins just completed a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, posting a win on Wednesday night after losses on Monday and Tuesday. Three Southern California-born Marlins, Christian Yelich (Thousand Oaks), Reed Johnson (Riverside), and Giancarlo Stanton (Panorama City), all found success at the plate in front of their hometown fans.
In the first game of the series, Yelich went 2 for 3 with a solo home run. He described the feeling of rounding the bases in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd which he estimated contained about 150-200 people who were close to him as a "surreal feeling." After going hitless on Tuesday, Yelich rebounded on Wednesday, going 1 for 2 with an RBI on a sacrifice fly and 2 walks in a 13-3 rout of the Dodgers.
Reed Johnson, who grew up going to San Diego Padres games at Jack Murphy Stadium with his grandmother, also had a productive series against the Dodgers. On Monday night, in his lone at bat, he hit a pinch hit 2-run home run, his first homer as a Marlin. Like Yelich, he also was hitless on Tuesday, lining out in his one pinch hit at bat. As a starter on Wednesday, Johnson went 2-5 with yet another 2-run homer.
While he's known for launching monster home runs, Giancarlo Stanton actually found success at the plate against the Dodgers without leaving the yard. Instead, Stanton put together three multi-hit games in the series, including a 3-hit effort on Wednesday night, extending his career high and current Major League leading hitting streak to 16 games.
Northern California-based Marlin Casey McGehee (Soquel) will look to continue the streak of hometown success as the Marlins now head to San Francisco for a four-game series against the Giants.