The Fish and Braves were back in action Saturday afternoon for game two of their series. Anibal Sanchez had the ball for the Fish, and Tommy Hanson made the start for ATL.
Thanks to a slight defensive melt-down of the Braves, the Marlins got on the board in the second. Cody Ross stole second after being hit by a pitch, and advanced to third on an error by Brian McCann. Cody scored when Ronny Paulino popped out, and Martin Prado failed to catch the ball in fair territory. And this ended the scoring for the Marlins.
Anibal cruised through much of the game with one exception and it came in the fourth inning. Anibal walked Chipper Jones to start the fourth, and Brian McCann tried to bunt him into scoring position but did more than that by bunting for a hit. With two runners on and no outs, Eric Hinkse struck out and for a brief moment it looked like the inning could be salvaged. That thought was soon erased when Omar Infante singled in Jones and then Yunel Escobar doubled home McCann. And if that wasn't enough, Gregor Blanco singled in Infante and Escobar to give the Braves a 4-1 lead which stood for the rest of the game.
Nothing much happened after that. Oh sure the Marlins loaded the bases in the sixth with one out and did absolutely nothing with it. Not to mention in the eighth where with one out Danny and Cody singled back to back to only have the inning end with Ronny Paulino hitting into a double play. Like we haven't seen our share of those recently.
All in all, it was a total waste of a decent pitching performance by Anibal. The Marlins offensive continues their inconsistent ways. They either score next to no runs, (the norm), or score 10+ runs, (the rare win). This all or nothing scoring by the offense is going to be the death of the team, if it continues. While some of the inconsistencies can be chalked up to facing good pitching, but not most. It is mostly the failure of timely hitting and taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented.
The Marlins once again will find themselves in sweep avoidance mode on Sunday. Does anyone know where we can get a Jobu statue and some rum? Just asking. And oh, by the way, lose the cursed white hats, they just ain't working.