Shortstop Rafael Furcal went hitless in three at-bats Thursday, but he continues to be the heart and soul of the Dodgers offense. Furcal drew two walks in five plate appearances and scored both times, including the go-ahead run on a single by Matt Kemp in the ninth inning after Furcal drew a leadoff base on balls.
One day after his double gave him the Los Angeles Dodgers record for extra-base hits in March/April with 17, Furcal is batting .371. During the team's six-game winning streak, he has reached base in 14 of 33 plate appearances, scoring nine runs. Furcal is second in the National League in both batting average and on-base percentage (.459), first in hits (43) and runs (28) and tied for first in doubles (12).
He also made a spectacular defensive play in the first inning Thursday to rob Florida's Jeremy Hermida of a hit. Furcal lunged far to his right, planted on the outfield grass and threw across his body to edge Hermida at first base.
Furcal has started every game this season, batting leadoff in all but one of them.
DODGERS 5, MARLINS 3: For the fourth time in their six-game winning streak, the Dodgers scored the winning run in their last at-bat. This time, it was an RBI single by Matt Kemp that scored Rafael Furcal, and the Dodgers went on to add an insurance run on a freak play in which the Marlins were charged with two errors and Russell Martin was tagged out when he turned left instead of right after crossing first base.
