The Miami Marlins took an early lead against the San Francisco Giants, jumping out ahead of them 1-0 and later 3-0 on a pair of home runs. In the first inning, it was Derek Dietrich who jumped on a Matt Cain fastball that was delivered down the right field line for a line drive homer. Later on, Garrett Jones hit a two-run shot following a Reed Johnson hit, and the Fish were up 3-0.
But all of those good things would not last against the Giants. After the early three innings of runs, Miami could not move the needle against Matt Cain, who struck out seven and walked three in 7 2/3 innings. Cain was just good enough to continue late into the game, but it was the failure of Nathan Eovaldi to command his pitches that hurt the Fish on the other side. Eovaldi missed critical spots in the early going, and that led to a two-run home run by Mike Morse that helped push the Giants closer. At that point, the Giants were down just one run at 4-3.
The fifth inning proved to be the difference. The Giants put runners on with a walk and a single by Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence. Eovaldi and the Marlins gave up RBI hits by Buster Posey and Morse to break open the 4-3 lead to a 6-4 deficit for Miami. In addition, manager Mike Redmond missed a critical challenge call on a play that would have likely been called an out and instead allowed it through, adding to the run burden of the inning.
Miami's offense never woke up past the third; the Fish got two of their six hits and one walk past the third inning and could never get a man past second. The Fish take their sixth loss in eight attempts on this West Coast trip.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 41,957
Hero of the Game: Garrett Jones (0.157 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Nathan Eovaldi (-0.593 WPA)
Play of the Game: Buster Posey doubled in the fifth inning. Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence scored. (-0.188 WPA)