While the majority of South Florida had their eyes on Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, the Marlins took the field Monday night at Sun Life Stadium to open a three-game series with Philadelphia. Unlike the Heat game, there was no extra-innings victory for the Fish as they fell to the Philths, 6-4, in front of 11 people.
Aside from a 3-hit night from MLB's National League Player of the Week Gaby Sanchez, which included a home run and a 2-run double, Fish fans didn't have much to cheer about.
A leadoff home run from Jimmy Rollins in the first basically set the tone for Javier Vazquez, who lasted a mere 4 1/3 innings, and gave up six runs before a call to the bullpen stopped the bleeding.
The Marlins had some success against Joe Blanton early. In the bottom of the first, Gaby's 2-run double gave the Marlins the lead, and an RBI single by Chris Coghlan in the second made it 3-1. Unfortunately, Javy would give up three runs in the third that would erase the lead, and the Marlins lineup would struggled the rest of the way.
The Fish grounded into 4 double plays to top off a less-than-inspiring showing at the plate and on the bases, and things went from worse to worser in the seventh when Edward Mujica sprained his left knee and had to be wheeled off the field.
Gaby's eighth inning home run brought the Marlins within two, but that's where they would stay, as they dropped the series opener against Philadelphia.