Florida Marlins defeat Cincinnati Reds 7-6 – MLB Update
The Florida Marlins put in an exceptionally good performance to beat Cincinnati Reds 7-6 at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati on Friday, April 29.
John Buck provided a solid start to the Marlins, catching the Reds completely off-guard. Buck successfully executed a three run homer to strengthen his team’s grip on the game.
Javier Vazquez was simply relentless after giving up one run in the first inning, as he made things difficult for the Reds, adding to their offensive frustration. This was partially the reason why the Marlins’ offence was aggressive since the start. Such
was the performance of Vazquez that even Cincinnati’s manager had to acknowledge it. “He hurt us as much with his hitting as he did with his pitching," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
Hanley Ramirez was another star to shine on Friday, as he added two runs to his team’s score in the fourth inning, compounding troubles for the Reds.
Travis Wood fell victim to an aggressive Marlins’ offence that took advantage of almost every delivery of his. He gave up eight hits which allowed the Marlins’ hitters to score seven runs out of them. If nothing else testifies to his astoundingly poor performance
as a starting pitcher in this game, the very first inning went for five runs.
When he appeared on the pitcher’s plate, little did he realise what was about to happen, as almost every batter had massive hits, especially Buck and Omar Infante. Both drove in two-runs each to make it four, along with Vazquez’s single that made it 5-0
for the Marlins in the first inning.
"John Buck's our number one catcher. He has been doing an excellent job," Edgar Rodriguez said. "Not offensively, but he's been good calling the games and working with the pitchers. We know that eventually he will start hitting more consistently."
Realising that he had been a major disappointment to his team, Wood did not try to defend himself. "There is no excuse for giving up five runs in the first inning," Wood said. "I was missing spots and they were hitting them."
The game ended up being a close encounter that ended up with a 7-6 score as Florida came out on top against Cincinnati. It will be interesting to see how the Marlins carry their winning momentum into their next game. Cincinnati put in a decent performance,
but unfortunately they were let down by their pitching unable to restrict the offence.
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