Mike Cameron’s RBI walk helps Florida Marlins beat Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 in 14th inning
Mike Cameron put in a brilliant performance as his RBI walk helped the Florida Marlins beat Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 in an exciting 14 inning game at Sun Life Stadium, Miami on Sunday, September 4.
Looking for a win against Roy Halladay, The Boys in Teal made an everlasting impression on their fans. Playing at Sun Life Stadium was advantageous for the Marlins but their winning opportunity cropped up at the bottom of the 14th. Phillies’ reliever,
David Herndon, gave away the winning walk to Mike Cameron. Emilio Bonifacio scored for the home team and the game ended in epic fashion.
The Marlins led the match with a run in the first through Omar Infante, whose single down centre-field allowed Bonifacio to score. The Phillies responded in the top of the second as Halladay played a sacrifice bunt and Carlo Ruiz scored off the move.
Wilson Valdez scored later in the inning as Michael Martinez smashed a single down the middle of the park. The Marlins then came back in the bottom of the third to respond with Gaby Sanchez, who scored off Halladay’s catch error.
Things looked calm till the top of the sixth. Hunter Pence came in for the Phillies to slam a shot to the right. Marlins’ Bryan Petersen followed the ball and leaped up the wall to make a catch. Unfortunately, a fan interfered and the play was reviewed.
Pence was called out by Crew Chief, Joe West and the decision did not sit well with Phillies’ skipper Charlie Manuel. He argued and was eventually ejected.
With the score all even on 2-2, the Marlins rallied their bats in the bottom of the sixth to crop up a run under Petersen. Jose Lopez’s drive to the right allowed for the run and the Phillies responded in kind in the top of the seventh, through Ryan Howard.
Howard’s single down centre-field, gave Shane Victorino and Martinez enough space, to complete their runs. The Marlins were trailing 3-4 and it was in the bottom of the seventh when they squared the game even. Omar Infante scored for the home team when Sanchez
got out on fielder’s choice.
Both teams looked good and fans thought the game would end within the next two innings. That, however, was not going to happen as Cameron ended the bout in the 14th with a RBI walk. The centre-fielder was on his heels when he came in to hit for
the Marlins in the inning.
"'Get a pitch that I could hit over the fence,'" Cameron commented on his focus at the time. "He didn't throw me one, so I walked. I just tried to be ready from the first pitch on and make sure he didn't sneak one in there."
In the end, it took a lot of patience and determination to curl out a winner. Fortunately for the Marlins, they were able to do it in front of their home crowd.
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