Miami Marlins go past Washington Nationals 3-1 as Hanley Ramirez slams a home run - MLB Update
Third-baseman Greg Dobbs sacrificed to lead centre-fielder Chris Coghlan across home plate as the Miami Marlins win 3-1 against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park, Miami, FL, on May 29, 2012, in second game of the three match series.
Nationals jumped to a one run lead in the fifth, following a failure by both sides to add any run in the first four innings. Against the backdrop of such a poor lead, the Nationals knew they needed to substantiate it for claiming victory.
However, lack of run-support in critical junctures meant that the Marlins will be going past them and recording a potential win.
In a display of waking up late in the innings, the Marlins rightly exploited the fatigue, which was taking over the Nationals’ starter Edwin Jackson, after throwing a number of innings.
By drawing two runs from his pitches, the Marlins surged to a one run lead. To frost the cake, the Marlins’ third-baseman Hanley Ramirez came and slammed a home-run in the eighth. With this, task became even harder for the Nationals.
Heath Bell performed the closing job. He proved very effective that the Nationals were unable to fetch a victory from him. He went scoreless, while striking-out two.
Starters from both sides were exemplary and it was only a matter of who is closer to perfection. Individually, Jackson gave up just one run as the second run was not earned.
As he did not prove an easy prey for the Marlins, his outing was hardly any different to the way starter Anibal Sanchez fared in the game.
"It was a well-pitched ballgame on both parts," Jackson said. "It's who can make the least amount of mistakes, and they capitalized on that mistake."
Sanchez threw a long spell of seven innings and struck-out five. Unable to find proper run-support earlier, he was getting frustrated with the losses, which were not entirely due to his own fault. He will be at-ease now, as he managed to register a win finally.
Winning against the mighty Nationals is going to be a real booster for the Marlins. Though, problems with their offence remain, victory will infuse a new vigour and will make them more energetic for upcoming games.
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