Miami Marlins win 2-1 against San Francisco Giants in three-game series opener - MLB Update
Starter Ricky Nolasco scripts his third win for the Miami Marlins as he takes his side to a 2-1 win against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California on May 1, 2012.
While Jose Reyes turns mediocre on the plate, Giancarlo Stanton ups the ante for the Marlins, hitting a homer. In a low scoring game, that homer proved decisive.
Nolasco was the real force on which the Marlins built their victory. Little more than seven innings he threw included just one run. Although he did not strike-out much, he held the hitters in limits and never allowed them to add runs.
After squandering various opportunities to record a save earlier in the season, Heath Bell finally managed one for his side. He went scoreless in one inning.
Against what his performance required, the manager Ozzie Guillen kept faith in him. As he gave him another chance in the game, this time Bell came out successful.
"Plain and simple, it shows the confidence that Ozzie and the coaching staff have that it will turn around for me," Bell said. "I think that's why they put me out there."
Realising an anger building up among the fans, win was a huge sigh of relief for Guillen.
After all the money roster was adorned with this year, fans’ expectations have been sky-high. A let-down was obviously to follow a severe backlash.
"Your fans boo you, for good reason, for the right reason, it was starting to get ugly," Guillen said. "Hopefully we play better tomorrow than we did today, because my wife has very bad insurance. I've got to make sure I put my money in my insurance because
if we keep playing like that, I might not make it to July."
Game included two home-runs, which points to an inability of both the sides to follow classic run-manufacturing techniques for recording runs. Perhaps both the starters were just too smart for letting things happen this way.
Matt Cain started for the Giants. In eight innings, he struck-out four and gave up two runs.
The Marlins have the best opportunity to re-launch themselves in the season from now onward. How far they can take their progress in their next matches in the series will be crucial to their confidence ahead in the season.
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