A 9-Run Inning and 20 Hits Create Late-Season Excitement

Days like this and months like May are glimpses of the potential that we Marlins fans have been looking for all season long. How nice it was to see our guys come out and dominate a pitching staff!

Last night, the Marlins beat the Diamondbacks, 12-3. Giancarlo Stanton sent two over the fence, bringing him to five consecutive games with a round-tripper. Justin Ruggiano and John Buck also hit the long ball, and as a team, the Marlins logged 20 hits in the game, a feat not seen by Fish fans since July of 2008.

Mark Buehrle led the defense, going a full seven innings. He only gave up two earned runs on six hits, yielding no walks while striking out four. The relief was handled by Chris Hatcher, rocking his Clew Haywood for two innings, yielded one earned run on three hits.  Buehrle went walkabout from the bench to stay loose during the marathon 12-batter fourth inning.

The focus for the game, however, needs to stay on the offense.  John Buck (!) and Jose Reyes both went 4-5 on the night, and Carlos Lee went 3-5.  The only walk drawn was by Donovan Solano. None of the Arizona pitchers lasted more than 3 2/3 innings. In the fourth inning alone, the Marlins logged ten hits, as Carlos Lee actually registered a hit before getting thrown out at second on an 8-2-4 gotcha play. Lee now has 30 RBI’s in 42 games as a Marlin.

Gorkys Hernandez, Bryan Petersen, and Mark Buehrle were the only Marlins that didn’t get at least one base hit.

Coming off the heels of two 6-5 wins in a series split with Colorado, the Marlins are continuing to perform well in the NL East.