The Miami Marlins won Wednesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants in ten innings by a score of 3-2. Heath Bell’s frustrating season continued with issues in the ninth inning before Steve Cishek entered and worked out of the jam. The win was the second in a row for Miami and moved the team to 10-14 on the season.
Carlos Zambrano pitched well enough to win and should have three wins at this point but once again, he left with a no decision. Zambrano tossed seven shutout innings and was in line for the win before Bell’s ninth inning troubles. The veteran allowed five hits and walked three while striking out five. On the season, Zambrano has a 2.53 E.R.A to go along with his 0-2 record. Edward Mujica who was the hero in game one of the series pitched a perfect eighth for his sixth hold of the year. In the ninth, Bell allowed hits to the first three batters he faced and also gave up a run to cut the Marlins’ lead in half. Manager Ozzie Guillen saw enough and took Bell out at that point in favor of Cishek. The tying run would score on a bunt but Cishek prevented any further damage to force extra innings. After the Marlins scored in the top of the tenth, the young right-hander tossed a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. The blown save was charged to Cishek but he was also credited with the win to make him 3-0.
As a team, the Marlins still struggled offensively as they only had five hits and were 0-8 as a team with runners in scoring position. Miami scored in the first inning on a Omar Infante ground-out and again in the second thanks to a fielding error with Emilio Bonifacio at the plate. The run in the tenth came courtesy of a Giancarlo Stanton home run, the third of the season and also the third in the last four games for the young slugger. Stanton was 3-5 in the game adding a double as well as he remained the team’s hottest hitter.
On Thursday, the Marlins will try to sweep the series with Anibal Sanchez opposing Ryan Vogelsong.
About Larry Walansky
