LOS ANGELES — It took two pitches for Adrian Gonzalez to make a major difference with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gonzalez hit a three-run homer a couple of hours after arriving at his new address, giving Clayton Kershaw all the offensive support he needed in 8-2 victory over Josh Johnson and the Miami Marlins on Saturday night.
"It means a lot to have Adrian here because it gives us a lot more confidence," Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp said. "I mean, this is a guy that can drive in 100-plus runs every year and is a possible 40-home run guy. He really knows the National League well and he's had a lot of success here, so he's definitely going to help us tremendously."
Los Angeles acquired Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto earlier in the day in a blockbuster trade with Boston. During a postgame press conference at home plate with Beckett and Punto, Gonzalez wore a Mickey Mouse T-shirt — even though he was 35 miles from Disneyland.
"When I heard about the trade, I had to pack really fast," he said. "I saw this T-shirt and it was like, 'There couldn't be a better shirt to wear today.' "
Gonzalez, a four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove first baseman, batted cleanup between Kemp and Hanley Ramirez, with Andre 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 record set in 1919 by first baseman Ed Konetchy.
Kershaw (12-7) pitched three-hit ball over eight innings for the new-look Dodgers, who also got a home run from Mark Ellis. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner struck out eight, walked two and yielded one hit in his final six innings while lowering his overall ERA to 2.84.