Controversy wrecks Florida Marlin’s bid for a victory
The Florida Marlins crashed out of an apparent victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, when third umpire, Bob Davidson, ruled out Gabey Sanchez’s hit down the left side. From what appeared to be a winning run from Hanley Ramirez, off the second base as the ball skipped over the third base, turned to nothing when the official deemed the ball, foul.
The umpire refused the Marlins’ team manager, Edwin Rodriguez’s plea for assistance on the decision and went on to substantiate the ruling by saying how it was important where the ball was hit from; citing the bat making contact, ‘wide off the bag’. He further went on to say that it didn’t matter where the ball was going to go as long as the hit was a foul. The ultimate outcome was a move to the 10th inning, where the Phillies completed their 3 game winning streak over their opponents in quick succession in the Sun Life Stadium.
No matter how unfortunate or revolting the turn of events may have been for the Marlins, the good thing to come off the game was the fighting spirit that was prevalent in the side through the night. The beleaguered team needed a win to equal the New York Mets on the 3rd position for the Eastern Division in the National League. However, the home team’s luck dried up last night as the 9th inning fiasco fumbled over to pounce on the players before the 10th.
As for the Phillies, fans were riding high on expectation as they looked for their team to decrease their deficit over the Division Leaders, Atlanta Braves. Going into the game with two victories over their rivals, the team looked to repeat their actions and give Florida a hard beating again. For what appeared to be a competitive task, the game went well for the challengers as they finally sought out the victory in the top 10th with a Carlos Ruiz home run.
The game began with the Phillies batting in the strike zone and the Marlins beaming the dugout with Chris Volstad on the mound. The first 5 innings saw no runs as both teams were dueling to find the opener of the match. Roy Oswalt returned for Philadelphia, as the newly acquired star from the Houston Astros was looking to cement his role in the line up as a premier pitcher for the club. The game opened up in the top sixth when the Phils’ Chris Ruiz banged the ball towards the deep centre for a double, while allowing Raul Ibanez and Domonic Brown to register the team’s first 2 runs.
The action followed into the bottom 7th when the Phillies replaced Oswalt with reliever, Juan Carlos Romero. The decision presented an opportunity for the Marlins to strive their way out of the predicament they were in. With Wes Helms and Ronny Paulino on the second and first base, respectively, Donnie Murphy entered the strike zone, looking for a moment to shine. That came when the hitter bashed the ball for a ground rule, down the deep left, for a double. This was what the second base holder, needed to score as the lead was cut short by half with his successful run towards the last base.
More runs followed as the pitcher’s intentional walk gift to Hanley Ramirez, backfired. The reliever fumbled and allowed the next batsman, Logan Morrison, to walk towards the first base, resulting in Brett Hayes (Paulino’s runner) walk to the dugout for the second run of the innings from the third position. Unable to withstand the pitcher’s erroneous tactics, Jose Contreras replaced him on the mound. However, more misery followed as Sanchez came on to strike the ball down the right for a single, giving Murphy and Ramirez the space to score, making it an astounding 4-2 for the Marlins.
However, the lead wasn’t going to hold as the Phillies scored off Placido Polanco, on an Ibanez’s hit for a double to the deep left, and Ross Gload, following Jayson Werth’s single from a strike towards the center, in the top 9th.
The bottom 9th, however, was marked with controversy, as mentioned before. With the game at a standstill in the end of the innings, marred by a disallowed Sanchez hit from which Florida should have won the game, the bout moved into the 10th inning. The game was finally decided by a Chris Ruiz 365 feet homer to the left, off reliever, Will Ohman which got Philadelphia the win with a 5-4 score line.
Though the game ended differently from what the Marlins may have been expecting, the positive thing to take down from the match was the resilience and diligence with which the team worked well in to the competition. For what it is worth, the ball club will look to redeem its lost luck in the last few days.
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