Miami Marlins beaten by Washington Nationals 1-5 as Josh Johnson allows five runs - MLB Update
Starter Josh Johnson leaks five runs as the Miami Marlins start the second half of the season by losing to the Washington Nationals 1-5 in the first game of the four match series at Marlins Park, Miami on July 13, 2012.
The Marlins continue to be an easy prey for opponents. Starting the second half with a poor show, they were beaten cheaply by the Nationals.
Their starter was hammered with a number of hits at the start as Washington surged to a substantial lead.
Similarly, their bat largely remained quiet in the game.
Having no answer to the solid throws by starter Jordan Zimmermann their batters managed just seven hits in the game. For first six innings, the Marlins were scoreless before they added one run in the seventh.
In the meantime, the effect of the absence of their star out-fielder Giancarlo Stanton was visible during the match. Since no home-run came off from the Marlins, one can easily point out that the presence of Stanton will have made a lot of difference.
Furthermore, other than Stanton, most of their hitters in the line-up rely more on simple run-production techniques, as opposed to striking homers. However, since the match required them to have a come-from-behind type of flair, they failed to generate enough
power late in the innings.
With regards to the Marlins' pitchers, Johnson started and he gave up 11 hits while striking-out six.
As far as the Nationals’ offence was concerned, Ryan Zimmerman was the stand-out performer. Continuing from his recent surge to an excellent form, he kicked off the second half in style, connecting three hits in four at-bats, including a two-run homer.
"I had a pretty good fastball tonight and I was able to locate it pretty well," Zimmermann said. "I was just spotting up with that and I got some swings and misses."
Meanwhile, Marlins’ manager Ozzie Guillen is looking forward to come out better in the next game as he acknowledges that Zimmermann threw impeccable pitches.
"We couldn't put it together," Guillen said. "Zimmermann threw the ball pretty good. Today, we took it like another All-Star break day. Hopefully, tomorrow, we can come back and swing the bats better."
As it was the first game of the series, Guillen will be making sure that the offence comes up with some production in the next game.
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