Miami Marlins thrash Chicago Cubs 9-5 as Anibal Sanchez shows control on the mound-MLB Update
Starter Anibal Sanchez strikes-out seven as the Miami Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs 9-5 at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois on July 17, 2012 in the first game of the three match series.
Sanchez kept the Marlins in contention all-through the game. While he was supported by sufficient number of runs, strike-outs that he brought on consistent basis never allowed the Cubs to launch a counter-attack.
Seven innings he tossed cost just two runs, while the one run was unearned. By the time he left the mound, Miami was on-course toward an easy win. However, reliever Chad Gaudin who succeeded Sanchez, for a while gave an impression that he will lose the lead.
He gave up three runs. Certainly, if further opportunity was given to him by the manager, he will have taken Marlins to the brink of a nightmarish defeat. Therefore, he was immediately replaced.
Meanwhile, the best thing that came about in the match for Marlins' manager Ozzie Guillen was the fact that his closer Heath Bell threw a scoreless inning.
As far as the Marlins’ offence was concerned, the grand slam that Carlos Lee struck was the most prized moment for the team. He was part of a run-rampage by Miami in the fifth.
Lee connected two hits in four at-bats in the game.
Manager Guillen celebrates the fact that a player that they recently traded from the Houston Astros has started showing his talent. He expects to see him putting up similar kind of performances in upcoming games.
"Little by little, hopefully we start getting better," Guillen said. "We got big hits. Carlos has been taking over in RBI situations, doing a tremendous job going after it and bringing those guys in. We're going to need more than that."
Furthermore, Marlins witnessed most of their players in the line-up stepping up and making a contribution. Besides Lee, the second baseman Omar Infante and the third-baseman Hanley Ramirez slammed a home-run.
This series provides the best opportunity to the Marlins to pick up some momentum from now onward and improve drastically on the Division table.
Tags: