Thursday’s 3-2 win was the Miami Marlins seventh straight AT&T Park victory dating back to last season as they continued to show dominance over the San Francisco Giants in their park. It was the second straight series they’ve swept in San Francisco with last year’s sweep coming on the heels of the infamous June swoon. The win was the Marlins third in a row moving them to 11-14 on the year.
Anibal Sanchez’s fantastic season had another chapter added to it as he moved to 2-0 on the year with seven innings of one run ball. Sanchez walked one and struck out five while lowering his E.R.A to 2.43. The right-hander who entered the year in the fifth slot of the rotation has been the ace of the staff so far and is near the top of the league leaders in strikeouts. Randy Choate was brought in to face a lefty and gave up a double to end his day after one batter. That runner would come home to score off of Ryan Webb on a ground-out. In the ninth, Edward Mujica was given the save opportunity as Heath Bell and Steve Cishek were unavailable for the game. Mujica worked a scoreless inning to earn his first save of the season. Going forward, Bell is expected to remain the closer but on a short leash.
Brett Hayes led a twelve hit attack with three knocks including his third double of the season. The backup catcher is making a case for increased playing time as he is now hitting .375, he has also looked great behind the plate. Omar Infante also had three hits but failed to deliver a big hit with the bases loaded late in the game. Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a situation that has baffled the Marlins’ offense in recent days. Miami was 3-13 in the game with runners in scoring position and left fifteen runners on base in all.
The Marlins will open a series in San Diego on Friday with Josh Johnson scheduled to take on Anthony Bass.
About Larry Walansky
