Cincinnati Reds thrash Miami Marlins 4-0 - MLB Update
The Cincinnati Reds made an emphatic start of the 2012 regular season on Thursday, April 05, beating the Miami Marlins 4-0. The game at Cincinnati, which culminated with the second loss of the Marlins in the season, was a reflection of the Reds’ defensive and offensive strength against the rival team.
Johnny Cueto came aggressively against the Marlins offence, pitching seven strong innings, conceding no runs to allow only three hits. The fire-throwing right-handed pitcher had four strikeouts to his credit to virtually dismantle the Marlins offence at a crucial juncture.
Mark Buehrle of the Marlins did not have a particularly bad game, but could not effectively restrain the Reds hitters who played rather confidently on Thursday. Buehrle gave up seven hits and surrendered two runs in his six innings.
Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds scored in the very first inning, hitting a sacrifice fly to give the Reds 1-0 lead. While Buehrle then tried to disallow any more run, Ryan Ludwick did his bit in the sixth inning with his double to deep centre to double the Reds’ lead.
Edward Mujica of the Marlins was taken to task by the Reds’ hitters. Jay Bruce homered in the eighth inning to triple the Reds’ lead, and almost dashed any Marlins hope to stage a comeback in the game. His homer went as far as 440 feet to pave the way of victory for the Reds.
Before Mujica could wrap up the inning, Chris Heisey had another hit, enabling the runners to score the fourth run.
Sean Marshall had a rather strong case to make in Thursday’s game. Replacing Ryan Madson who had a season ending injury which was diagnosed last month, Marshall had two strikeouts in the ninth inning to seal the victory for the Cincinnati Reds with 4-0 score.
The Reds’ performance on Thursday made it abundantly clear how decisively important role their offence and defence combination can play to score victories. While the Marlins struggled to maintain their grip on the game, the Reds proved they are ever stronger team to compete with in the season.
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