Miami Marlins beat Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 in their 2012 Spring Training clash - MLB Update
Starter, Josh Johnson, lifts Miami Marlins to a 5-1 win against Tampa Bay Rays in a game played at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida on March 25, 2012 in their Grapefruit League contest.
Along with victory, Marlins have buried hopes of Rays’ starter Wade Davis for finding a place in the final rotation. As Marlins sent him to seven hits and drew four runs on his pitches, it will be extremely difficult for him to win back confidence of his
manager.
Although batters kept giving them runs consistently, if it was not for their starter, Josh Johnson, Marlins’ lead will easily be chased down.
There were moments in the game where the Rays may have exploited to their favour, but the fact Johnson will beat them even when he was weaker on pitch-count, they failed miserably.
"A little bit of everything," Johnson said. "Some good, some bad, some ugly, but I got my pitch count up and got my adrenaline going that last inning, so it was good."
As regard to their much relied upon shortstop, Jose Reyes, Marlins found just one hit on five at-bats he faced.
Right fielder Bryan Petersen was an only player who brought two RBIs for Marlins, along with one run he completed while using four at-bats.
The fact Johnson, despite striking-out four, gave five walks in the game and can be a reason for concern for Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen .
Along with Johnson, Rob Delaney and Chad Gaudin also went scoreless in innings they pitched.
Game was characterised by a lot of walks being given from both sides, with Rays allowing seven walks in the play and Marlins six.
A let down by their pitchers aside, Rays were equally poor on the offensive front. Their batters produced just seven hits in 31 at-bats and even worse was the fact that only one RBI came off from total hits struck.
Catcher Jose Lobaton connected no hit in two at-bats. Similarly their right fielder Ben Zobrist managed just one hit in three at-bats.
Even after the win, Marlins cannot afford to be complacent and building on their momentum will determine their success both in their next games in Spring Training and in the 2012 regular season.
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