Graham Pauley’s surge since latest recall continues as Marlins beat Dodgers

It turns out the sixth time might have been the charm for Graham Pauley.

After shuttling back and forth between the Miami Marlins and Triple A Jacksonville all season, Pauley is finding his stride in September since being recalled for one final time.

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Pauley clubbed his third home run of this stint — a 429-foot, two-run shot off Tyler Glasnow — to kickstart a three-run second inning that gave the Marlins the lead for good in an eventual 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at loanDepot park.

The Marlins improve to 73-76 and snap a four-game losing streak. The Dodgers fall to 90-58.

In eight games since getting recalled on Sept. 1, Pauley is hitting .304 (7 for 23) with three home runs, one triple, 11 RBI and six runs scores. He had just one home run and a .534 on-base-plus-slugging mark across 46 games during his first five stints with the big-league club.

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His home run on Saturday erased the Dodgers’ early lead, which came via back-to-back solo home runs by Mookie Betts and Max Muncy against Tyler Phillips in the first inning. Otto Lopez followed the Pauley home run with an RBI single to give Miami a 3-2 lead. A Javier Sanoja bases-loaded RBI fielder’s choice in the fifth inning pushed the Marlins’ advantage to 4-2.

Phillips settled in after giving up the two first-inning home runs but still was taken out after just 3 2/3 innings. That forced the Marlins to use five relievers to get through the rest of the game. Cade Gibson, who gave up a grand slam in the Marlins’ 6-2 loss on Friday, threw 1 1/3 scoreless frames to get Miami through the fifth. Tyler Zuber worked around a leadoff walk for a scoreless sixth. Calvin Faucher worked past a two-out single in the seventh. Michael Petersen tossed a perfect eighth. Pete Fairbanks gave up a run on a two-out Hunter Fedducia RBI single but got pinch-hitter Will Smith to line out to Sanoja at third base to seal the win and record his 19th save of the season — and first since coming back from his second stint on the injured list.

Injury note

Rookie outfielder Owen Caissie was removed from the game in the third inning with right hamstring tightness. Esteury Ruiz replaced him.

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