After saying goodbye to Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante, the Miami Marlins said hello to the win column with a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday. The win snapped a five game losing streak that had the Marlins a season low seven games under .500. The trade earlier in the day was the start of what is expected to be a series of trades over the coming days. Despite the win, Miami remains seven games back in the wild-card chase with a handful of teams ahead of them.
Josh Johnson was absolutely brilliant in this start before leaving with a cut on his finger after six innings. After taking a perfect game into the fifth inning with two outs, Johnson wound up allowing only one hit while striking out eight. Without the injury, it is likely the Marlins’ ace would’ve worked one or two more innings. Johnson has been a hot topic in trade rumors and was reportedly watched in this start by scouts from the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers. Despite the injury, the right-hander is expected to make his next start but that may come in a different uniform. Mike Dunn, Edward Mujica, Randy Choate and Steve Cishek all put in work on the mound after Johnson exited. The lone run was charged to Choate with the save being credited to Cishek — his third of the season.
Emilio Bonifacio who manned second base after the departure of Infante hit his first home run of the season in the second inning. The blast proved to be the game winner and came after Carlos Lee had brought home a run in the first inning. Jose Reyes, Donovan Solano and Bonifacio each had two hits in the game.
Miami will attempt to win a second game in a row on Tuesday when they send Mark Buehrle to the mound to take on Tim Hudson.
About Larry Walansky
