Logan Morrison, Giancarlo Stanton power Marlins to victory over division foes, Nationals
By Ehsan Kassim
Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day. I know I did. Got a brand new car, got to hang out with my family, the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics, and most important of all, the Miami Marlins pulled off a big win against their division rival, the Washington Nationals.
The win was the Marlins 19th of the month of May, and with a win in either of the final two games against the Nationals this week, the Marlins will set a new franchise record, the previous record happened in 1997, when that Marlins team won 19 games in August. Hopefully we can see some history established over the next two days!
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Not to toot my own horn too much, but I as accurate as I have been all season when it came to the prediction of this game. Here is a look at the prediction I made for this game in the preview:
"The Miami Marlins put some first inning runs on the board against Zimmerman, via a Giancarlo Stanton three-run shot. The Nationals tie the ball game up in the fifth inning, before Logan Morrison puts the Marlins in the lead for good in the seventh inning, with a two-run home run. The Marlins win the ball game, 5-4, but not before some more struggles from closer, Heath Bell."
I was incorrect about the innings Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton hit their home runs and about how many runners would be on base for each, but I was fairly accurate about who was going to account for the Marlins offense.
Morrison’s home run came in the bottom half of the fourth inning. LoMo’s home run tied the game up at one a piece, as Nationals pitcher, Jordan Zimmerman, hit his first career home run earlier in the game. Giancarlo Stanton’s home run came in the bottom of the sixth inning, after Ryan Zimmerman‘s two run-double to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead in the top half of the fifth. Stanton’s home run tied the game at three a piece.
The Marlins were able to grab the lead in the bottom of the sixth. After Stanton’s home run, Morrison collected his second extra base hit of the game, with a double. Morrison advanced to third base on a Bryan Petersen single. After a John Buck strikeout, Chris Coghlan drove in Morrison on a sacrifice fly, which gave the Marlins the lead for good.
The Marlins scored their final run in the bottom half of the seventh inning. After a Jose Reyes double, Omar Infante grounded out to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. When Zimmerman threw to first base, Reyes took off for third and made it in safely. Hanley Ramirez then drove him in on a sacrifice fly, to put the Marlins ahead 5-3.
My incorrect assessment was about Heath Bell in my prediction. I predicted that he would have a troublesome ninth inning and allow one run before the Marlins would finally put the game away. Apparently I was not the only one with that belief:
"“Ozzie leaned over and told my wife, ‘Jeffrey better go inside. He’s not going to want to watch the ninth inning,’ ‘ Loria recalled with a smile. “I said, ‘What, are you kidding me? I always love watching Heath Bell pitch.’ ‘"
Thankfully, Mr. Loria was correct and Ozzie Guillen was incorrect. Bell pitched a perfect ninth inning, including picking up two strikeouts, something he struggled with doing in his earlier save attempts, which was getting Marlins fans worried. This was the first outing for Bell that was encouraging to see as a Marlins fans. Let’s hope he has some more strikeouts up his sleeve, which should lead to some easier saves.
Good win for the Marlins over their division rivals. Both teams will be right back at it tomorrow night. I will have the game preview up, shortly before the first pitch.