Florida Marlins snatch second straight win over Washington Nationals 7-4 – MLB Update
National League eastern Franchise Florida Marlins got their second straight win overpowering division rivals Washington Nationals 7-4 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami on Wednesday, April 6.
A new comer in the Marlins’ line-up John Buck impressed with a splendid hit that went inches away from his second homer in spring. The 30-year-old right-hand hitter smashed into the field after hitting the wall, but he managed a three-run triple. The shot
set the momentum for another late comeback of club.
"The first part of the game was a little bit erratic," manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "Volstad was pitching behind in the count. The tempo was slow, but he kept us in the game. The bullpen did an outstanding job. We came back. The second part of the game
was very exciting. "
Chasing a four-run deficit, the Marlins ticked the score board in the bottom of fifth when Ramirez added a RBI single and Buck tripled, tying it four at all. Omar Infante singled and Hanley Ramirez added an RBI double in the sixth to achieve a game winning
lead. Gaby Sanchez put the opposition under pressure hitting a score as he made a sacrifice fly to centre.
Washington had acquired an early second inning lead when Ivan Rodriguez grounded into fielder’s choice to third providing Rick Ankiel a chance to score a run. Ian Desmond added an RBI and Ryan Zimmerman hit a sacrifice fly creating room for Rodriguez to
score and took the lead to 3-0. Then Desmond added another RBI and widened the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning.
The Nationals’ starter Livan Hernandez made a strong start, restricting the Marlins’ sluggers from making any run in the fourth inning, but lost momentum in fifth. The right-hand hurler, making his first start destroyed his own built up pressure allowing
four runs on six hits while striking-out just one.
Reliever Chad Gaudin pitched two innings, allowed two runs, walked one and managed four strike-outs. Closer Todd Coffey provided one run over just an inning.
Manager Jim Riggleman is still hopeful with his other pitchers as he commented to reporters after the game and said, "It's still a work in progress. We have to be able to rely on some other guys. I really have a lot of confidence in Todd Coffey. It has to
work itself out. They all have good arms."
The Marlins put in a good performance as they managed to contain the Nationals on both offence and defence. Washington will be looking to improve their performance in their next game as the regular season has just started. It will be interesting to see how
the Marlins carry their winning efforts into their next match-up.
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