The Marlins bats finally came awake and when they did, it was with a vengeance. The Marlins can hit, though haven't shown it recently, but in Sunday's game they showed it in full force. And we were all glad to see it. Also, the Fish caused a bit of controversy. But I will have more on that later. (Hopefully)
The Marlins bats got things rolling in the first, when Gaby Sanchez single and Hanley Ramirez doubled him over to third. Dan Uggla hit a ground ball out to third, plating Gaby. Then Cody Ross hit the first of his two home runs to bring the score to the Marlins 4 and the White Sox 0. It was the ninth time in his career that Cody has had a multihomer game.
As it turns out, that was all the Fish needed with Josh Johnson on the hill. JJ wasn't at his best, but he worked through it and shutout the White Sox for six innings.
The Marlins added on runs in the second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Don't know how they missed the fourth and the ninth, but who is complaining.
The saber-heads will be happy the Marlins out scored the White Sox 14 to 12 for the series, but sadly, total runs don't mean crap when you lose two of three.
Dan Meyer, Clay Hensley and Leo Nunez came on in relief of JJ and preserved the shutout. With Dan Meyer earning a gold star. (But more about that in the upcoming post.)
This was one interesting game. I'm sure the White Sox fans hated it, and who can blame them. But if you are a Marlins fan, it was as welcomed as a sunshiny day after three straight days of overcast skies and rain.
The Marlins are back home now and will enjoy their first day off after 20 games in a row. In that period they went 10-10. While not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, 11 of the games were played on the road, and some in less than desirable conditions. So all and all, it wasn't bad.
Let's hope the bats stay alive.