The Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets on Tuesday 4-2 in a game where Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to 25. The win put Miami ten games under .500 once again and kept them tied for fourth in the division. As for Reyes, he now holds the longest hit streak for a defending NL batting champion since Stan Musial in 1952.
Wade LeBlanc continued to pitch well but also was unable to make it through five innings once again. LeBlanc who is continuing his transition back to a starter lasted four and a third innings before being lifted. His final pitch was the only run he gave up, a solo home run in the fifth inning. With LeBlanc lifted early for a second straight start, Carlos Zambrano was credited with the win a second straight time. The decision was up to the official scorer who chose Zambrano over Chad Gaudin, Mike Dunn and Heath Bell who also pitched in relief. In the ninth, Steve Cishek earned a save with a perfect inning in which he struck out two for his seventh save of the year.
All four runs for Miami came in the fourth inning with two of those runs coming home on a double courtesy of John Buck. The Marlins’ catcher has had a subpar season but has been picking up the pace recently. Buck now has at least one hit in five out of his last six games. Giancarlo Stanton made his return to the Marlins and went 0-3 with a run batted in. The other run for Miami was brought home by Carlos Lee.
Miami will try to win a second straight game on Wednesday when Nate Eovaldi takes on Chris Young. Eovaldi who was acquired in the Hanley Ramirez trade will look to bounce back from a rough start against Atlanta.
About Larry Walansky
