Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 25,723
Hero Of The Game: Mark Buehrle (.285 WPA on the mound)
Goat Of The Game: Emilio Bonifacio (-.071 WPA)
Play Of The Game: Donnie Murphy homered to left field in the second inning. John Buck scored. (.187 WPA)
The Marlins got a much needed comfortable victory thanks to a dominant outing from Mark Buehrle, picking up his first victory as a Marlin. Also, the offense produced their biggest run output of the young season. The club cruised to 9-1 victory Wednesday night to take the second game against the Cubs and secure the series victory.
Mark Buehrle got off to a great start, retiring nine of the first ten batters he faced en route to three scoreless innings. Cubs starter Matt Garza was also looking pretty good until the third inning. It was an old but not unfamiliar name who got the Fish on the scoreboard. Donnie "Bleepin" Murphy drove one over the left field fence in the third inning, scoring John Buck who has uncharacteristically walked.Staked to a 2-0 lead, Buehrle ran into a little bit of trouble in the fourth and fifth innings but was able to escape. He induced an inning ending double play ball by Jeff Baker in the fourth and was able to retire reed Johnson to get through the fifth. The scorching hot Hanley Ramirez gave the Marlins some breathing room in the bottom half of the fifth with another no doubter home run. This was two-run shot that scored Emilio Bonifacio and gave the Fish a 4-0 lead.
The team kept adding on in the sixth, including a miraculous RBI single from Mark Buehrle, who hits under .100 for his career. By the end of the frame it was a 7-0 lead, and the Marlins win expectancy sitting at 99.4%. The final few innings were a breeze as the team coasted home and enjoyed their first blowout win in the new park.
Buehrle was his trademark efficient but dominant self. He went eight strong and struck out five batters while walking none. This is the type of performance the marlins signed up for when they inked him to a contract this offseason. That is the most promising development from tonight's fun victory. The team goes for its first sweep of the year tomorrow afternoon.