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The Marlins needed to break through with an offensive-powered game — Sunday's was the one they needed. Through a four run second inning and a seven hit shutout from Mark Buehrle, the Fish find themselves a win on the final day of Interleague Play in June.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 27,888
Hero of the Game: John Buck (+.113): 1-for-4, 3-run HR in 2nd.
Goat of the Game: Jose Reyes (-.030): 0-for-3, R
Play of the Game: Hanley Ramirez's 2-run triple in 7th (1.95 WPA)
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Leave it to Buck. His three-run home run in the 2nd gave the Marlins some relief from losing, something the Marlins desperately need at this point in the season.
The homer from Buck made the score 4-0, and made Buck the all-time MLB home run leader for Wyoming-born players (112). It was also his sixth of the season and came with nobody out in the 2nd Sunday afternoon.
John Buck 2nd inning HR; it's his 112th career HR, the most of any player ever that was born in Wyoming
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 24, 2012
The Marlins were far from finished on their scoring spree, however. It almost seemed like the Dolphins were playing on this Sunday instead of the Marlins.
Before Buck brought everyone home, Scott Cousins brought in Greg Dobbs on a single and moved Omar Infante to third.
In the sixth, Dobbs hit a 2-run home run to right field that brought in Logan Morrison. Morrison would also take in an RBI via a sacrifice fly in the 7th.
Our Play of the Game was the one that sealed the deal for Miami when Hanley Ramirez hustled around the bases for his second triple of the season that brought in Austin Kearns and Jose Reyes.
As a result, the Marlins were 3-for-4 with runners in scoring position. While the percentage is high, the chances were unsurprisingly low — but, who cares? Opportunities came aplenty thanks to key extra base hits, and the scoreboard showed it Sunday.
Here's another streak broken by the Marlins on Sunday:
Marlins score 9 runs vs Blue Jays!That snaps a 25-game streak of scoring 5 runs or fewer, was longest since 2000 Rays (29)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 24, 2012
While the bats came alive, the Marlins pitching staff made sure Toronto's hot hitters stayed cool in South Beach.
Mark Buerhle takes the win after throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing seven hits, walking two and striking out seven. Chad Gaudin came in to finish the final two — he allowed one hit and got one strikeout.
Interleague play is done for awhile and the Marlins will stay right where they are as the Cardinals come into town. First pitch Mondat is 7:10 p.m. as Ricky Nolasco faces Jake Westbrook.