Puig Debuts In Dodgers' 2-1 Win

Top Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Yasiel Puig goes 2-4 in debut

Monday night was all about Yasiel Puig's Major League debut, and while he did not disappoint, Scott Van Slyke, Adrian Gonzalez and Stephen Fife were the key contributors in the 2-1 win over San Diego.

Chris Capuano was scratched from the start and was replaced with Stephen Fife. That is two games in a row that the slated starter has been taken out.

Fife threw 76 pitches in 5.1 innings, giving up five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. It was his first victory in six career starts.

Peter Moylan, Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen, and Brandon League all pitched scoreless relief for a total of 3.2 innings. Jansen added two more strikeouts for a season total of 39 in 27.2 innings pitches.

Scott Van Slyke and Adrian Gonzalez continued their hot streaks contributing a solo home run each for the only Dodger runs of the night.

Van Slyke now has five home runs and 10 RBIs in 16 games this season, and 10 of his 13 hits are for extra bases. Gonzalez has the hottest bat on the team going 14-35 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in the last 10 games.

Yasiel Puig went 2-4 in his debut, with two singles.

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In his first career at bat, Puig blooped a single to left-center field, but was doubled up on a Nick Punto ground ball.

In his third at bat he got a second hit, a ground ball off the glove of first baseman Kyle Blanks that ended up in right field. He flashed his on-base speed by rounding second base and beating out the throw to third on a Nick Punto single.

The highlight of the night came courtesy of Puig, but not with the bat.

With one out and a runner on in the top of the ninth he was taken to the warning track by Kyle Blanks and threw an absolute laser to first base doubling up Chris Denorfia.

Adrian Gonzalez looked shocked at the throw, and a grin came to his face when the umpire called the runner out. The stadium erupted and Puig rushed to the infield filled with energy.

What a way to end your Major League debut and earn support from your teammates and the LA fan base.

"Energizing the team" or "being the spark-plug" are terms that are heard a lot when a player like Puig get called up to the majors. Usually I approach this with caution, but it is easy to see how something like Puig's debut and double play could do just that.

It is just one game, but Yasiel Puig is very hard to not get excited about.

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