Miami Marlins get 4-2 victory over New York Mets in Spring Training - MLB Update
Bryan Petersen, Emilio Bonifacio and Hanley Ramirez take Miami Marlins to a 4-2 win against New York Mets in a rain-shortened game at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie, Florida during their Spring Training Grapefruit League game on March 11, 2012.
Excellent performance by a starting pitcher, Johan Santana, two times Cy Young winner, was not enough to ensure Mets a win. Over two innings Santana pitched, he brought one strike-out, gave two walks and a sole run he conceded was unearned which had resulted
from an error by third baseman Ronny Cedeno.
"I truly believe we're going to do this right and that Johan Santana will be on this team opening day," Mets’ manager Terry Collins said.
Although touching eighty to ninety mph consistently remains a target for Santana, his increasing comfort on the mound is something he can take into the regular season for bringing great results.
"We're still building up pitches," Santana said. "I think once we get 80 to 90 pitches and do it every five days, that's when we'll say we're good."
As for Marlins, a game limited to just five innings cannot explain their input to victory as some of their relievers were unused and who knows if their time on the mound proved ideal for Mets to launch a counter-attack to pull off a victory.
Going by four innings of pitches Marlins’ starter Mark Buehrle threw with five hits and two runs he gave up, fate of upcoming relievers and closer was not to be any different. Fortunately however for the Marlins that their hitters responded timely and before
the rain interrupted, they had enough of a lead to end up on the winning side.
Fifth inning was an out-and-out boon for the Marlins, for Mets' reliever Jon Rauch it was nothing short of a nightmare who cost three runs to his side one way or the other.
Rauch was a bit unfortunate as he allowed a walk to Gaby Sanchez at a time when all bases were loaded and then to make matters worse, Chris Coghlan was alert enough to draw an RBI single on John Buck’s sacrifice fly.
As of now, Marlins has surged to Number three position on the table succeeded only by Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. Marlins and Mets both have lot of positives to draw from today's play and as both see their hitters and pitchers doing reasonably
good job, they can be a serious contender in the regular season.
Tags: