Brad Hand’s pitching helps Florida Marlins defeat Houston Astros 5-0 – MLB Update
Florida Marlins’ starter, Brad Hand was outstanding with the ball as he pitched seven score-less innings with an ERA of 2.77 in the Marlins’ 5-0 win against the Houston Astros at Sun Life Stadium, Florida on July 7.
Angel Sanchez walked but Michael Bourn was struck-out looking, Hunter Pence struck-out swinging and Carlos Lee also struck-out swinging at the top of the first inning. Similarly, the Marlins’ batters also failed in scoring shots as Emilio Bonifacio walked
and Omar Infante flied out to right-field at the bottom of the first inning.
The Marlins opened their scoring account at the bottom of the second inning and took a 2-0 lead when Mike Stanton struck a two-run homer (431 feet) towards left-centre and Mike Cameron scored a single run. The batters from both teams were unable to score
runs in the third and fourth inning.
The pitchers were on top as Hand presented just only two hits and had four-strike-outs on his 106 pitches. He did not give away any walk during his seven inning pitches. The Astros’ manager’ Brad Mills praised Hand in his statement as he said, “We had a
couple of first-pitch outs to lead off innings against a guy who had struggled with his command, but at the same time, you have to say (Hand) was pitching pretty well.”
In the fifth inning, the Marlins put two runs on the score-board to take a 4-0 lead. Logan Morrison doubled off left-field while Bonifacio and Hanley Ramirez both added two runs to lift the momentum of the Marlins. Sixth inning also went in favour of the
Marlins as John Buck contributed a single run to five the Marlins a 5-0 lead when Infante drove a single-run shot towards left-field and Bonifacio advanced to second base.
Buck said, “That's all he can do is pitch well when he's here and trust me, it's been noticed what he can do for us. I've been vocal about it.”
The pitchers did not allow any run during the last three innings. At the top of the eighth inning, Brett Wallace was struck-out swinging and Sanchez flied out towards right-field. The Astros missed the scoring runs during the ninth inning when Pence struck-out
looking and Jeff Keppinger flied out towards first base.
With this impressive win, the Marlins have a 1-0 lead in the four-game series at Florida.
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