Fish Cap: Red Sox 10, Marlins 2

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 33,119

Hero Of The Game: Giancarlo Stanton (.101 WPA)

Goat Of The Game: Ricky Nolasco (-.151 WPA)

Play Of The Game: Giancarlo Stanton doubled in the seventh inning. Hanley Ramirez moved to third base (0.136 WPA)

Mike Lowell, attending the Miami home game as a former member of both the Marlins and Red Sox, drew the biggest applause of the evening on Wednesday night at Marlins Park, as Marlins fans didn't have much to cheer about. The team ended a nine game homestand, during which they earned a victory only once, with a 10-2 loss to Boston.

Both starting pitchers, Ricky Nolasco for Miami and Felix Doubront for the Red Sox, began the game strong, as they fooled opposing batters through the first two innings. Boston scored the game's first run, which was unearned, in the bottom of the third. Mike Aviles singled to center fielder Justin Ruggiano and advanced to second after Ruggiano bobbled the ball. Doubront laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Aviles scored on a ground ball off the bat of Scott Podsednik, giving the Sox an early 1-0 advantage.

Hanley Ramirez made an acrobatic catch at third base to rob Adrian Gonzalez of extra bases to begin the top of the fourth, but David Ortiz crushed a ball to the opposite field for his 15th home run of the year, increasing Boston's lead to 2-0.

The Marlins' bats remained quiet, as the only batter to reach base through the first five innings against Doubront was Donovan Solano, who walked in the first inning. Meanwhile, the Red Sox continued to put good at-bats together against Nolasco. They added two more runs in the sixth after consecutive singles by Podsednik, Pedroia, and Gonzalez, and knocked Nolasco (L, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO) out of the game after they had a four run lead. Jose Reyes hit his second home run of the home stand in the bottom of the inning, which made it a 4-1 game through six innings.

Chad Gaudin worked an uneventful seventh inning, and the Marlins were able to add another run. Hanley Ramirez singled to right field, and Giancarlo Stanton followed with a double, giving the Marlins some life offensively. However, Omar Infante popped out, and the Marlins were only able to score one additional run on a Justin Ruggiano ground ball (fielder's choice). The Fish cut the lead in half and were down 4-2 through seven.

One big inning has hurt the Marlins all season, and nothing changed on Wednesday, as pinch hitter Nick Punto doubled to open the top of the eighth, and there was no looking back for the Red Sox. Overall, they scored six runs, all earned, and did so off of three different pitchers (Gaudin, Choate, and Webb). Choate was unable to get the big lefty bats out, and by the time Ryan Webb recorded the final out of the inning, the Marlins were down 10-2.

Heath Bell and Sandy Rosario both pitched well in the ninth inning, however the eight run deficit was not something the slumping Marlins' bats could overcome, and by the end of the night, they found themselves seven games behind the first place Washington Nationals after being tied for first place entering the first game of the homestand.

Overall, the Marlins arguably played their worst baseball of the season against the Braves, Rays, and Red Sox. The team hit under .200 with runners in scoring position, and the pitching was inconsistent, with the bullpen and starters both having ERAs over 6 during that nine game stretch.

The Marlins have an off day on Thursday, before heading to Tampa Bay and Boston for three game series. Coming off of a historic May, June has not been as pleasant for Miami, as they have only won 3 June games.

It is worth noting that Chris Coghlan was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans following Wednesday night's loss to Boston. A corresponding roster move is expected to be made before Friday's game in Tampa.