Josh Johnson didn't have his best stuff Saturday night in game two of the Marlins-Reds series at the Great American Ballpark. The stuff he did have, however, should have been more than good enough to earn him his fourth win of the season. JJ never seemed to get into a rhythm against the Reds. Still, he shut them out through seven innings, threw 75 of his 117 pitches for strikes, and lowered his ERA to .88, but for the second time this season, the bullpen blew his chance at the win.
The Marlins' offense was fairly pathetic too, as the Fish were outhit by the Reds 11-5, left nine on base and were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The Marlins struck first against the Reds and Edinson Volquez, who labored through five innings. Chris Coghlan worked a walk to lead off the game, stole second, and scored on Omar Infante's RBI single. With two on and only one out, the Marlins had an opportunity to add on against a struggling Volquez, but Mike Stanton bounced into an inning-ending double play, and the Fish had to settle for one.
Volquez threw 102 pitches and walked five in his five innings of work, but the Marlins only managed to get two hits against him.
Neither team would score again until the eighth inning.
The Fish faced a wild Aroldis Chapman, who walked the bases loaded and gave up a pinch-hit double to Wes Helms, to score two insurance runs for the Fish.
It wasn't enough insurance, though, since the Marlins' usually reliable bullpen decided to take the night off.
Randy Choate took over for JJ in the bottom of the inning and struck out Bruce and Votto. Edward Mujica was next up on the mound, and he gave up four consecutive hits to make it a one run game. After a double to Brandon Phillips, back-to-back RBI singles from Jonny Gomes and Miguel Cairo made it 3-2. Mujica gave up a single to Ramon Hernandez before Edwin pulled him. Ryan Webb got the call from the bullpen and promptly gave up the Reds' fifth consecutive hit, a single to Paul Janish that tied up the game.
Francisco Cordero held off the Marlins in the top of the ninth despite Ozzie Martinez leading off with a single and being in scoring position for two hitters. The Fish countered with Mike Dunn, who pitched a 1-2-3 inning to take the game into extras.
Cordero sat down the Marlins 1-2-3 in the top of the tenth before Mike Dunn returned to the mound. He walked Phillips and Gomes and loaded the bases when Cairo attempted a sac bunt that went right to Dunn, who threw high and wide to Gaby at first, pulling him off the bag to load up the bases. Hernandez grounded into a fielders choice, and the Marlins got the out at home. Janish popped out for the second out of the inning, and then Edgar Renteria came to the plate to pinch hit.
Now, normally, extra-innings walk-off singles by Edgar Renteria fill Fish fans with warm fuzzies. But when he's in the opposing team's uniform, they do the opposite of that. Renteria hit a ground ball single to left, and the Marlins lost game two of the series.