Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 28,045
Hero of the Game: Greg Dobbs (0.151 WPA), though Giancarlo Stanton (0.106 WPA) was the best among starters
Goat of the Game: Dan Jennings (-0.223 WPA)
Play of the Game: Chris Johnson doubled to right field in the sixth inning. Justin Upton scored. Freddie Freeman scored. Brian McCann advanced to third base. (-0.258 WPA)
The Miami Marlins were somehow magically able to hang on against their bane, Atlanta Braves starter Kris Medlen. Medlen did not look good in six innings against the Fish, yielding nine hits and three runs with just one strikeout and two walks allowed. It was the worst start Medlen had thrown at Miami since the team changed its name, so you had to figure the Fish needed to take advantage.
Well, the Marlins did not. The team had runners on second and third base with one out in the second inning and a 2-0 lead in the books thanks to Logan Morrison's second home run of the season. Unfortunately, the team should not have found themselves in that situation, as Adeiny Hechavarria committed a baserunning error in failing to score on a Rob Brantly double, instead holding at third base and watching as Tom Koehler and Juan Pierre made consecutive outs.
Morrison himself was not immune to error, as he got on base on a fielder's choice the following inning leading to a runner's on first and third situation with one out. He proceeded to get picked off of first base and crippling the team's threat. The Fish had yet another almost identical situation occur in the fifth inning, with multiple runners on base and less than two outs, before the Fish squanded the opportunity once more.
The Marlins' defense did Tom Koehler and the team no favors either. Placido Polanco committed a throwing error on a Kris Medlen single that led to Chris Johnson scoring in the third inning. Juan Pierre committed an error in the outfield when he allowed a ball that looked to be a sure sacrifice fly turn into three bases for Freddie Freeman, allowing Justin Upton to score from third. Combine that with some sloppy fielding of ground balls and some bad luck on plays by Derek Dietrich and Ryan Webb and the Marlins let through too many runs in the sixth innning onwards.
The Fish will look to recover tomorrow, with the scheduled starter to be Ricky Nolasco. But given the rumors surrounding him, will that be the case?