Spring Training 2013 Recap: Atlanta Braves 7, Miami Marlins 6

Monday afternoon started with a lot of promise for the Miami Marlins in their Grapefruit league matchup against their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves. The Marlins got an encouraging start from Wade LeBlanc, who is vying for the the final spot in the Marlins rotation and were able to take an early lead.

Marlins Pitching Up and Down:

Wade LeBlanc was the starter for this game, going up against Kris Medlin for the Braves. LeBlanc pitched his two innings quite efficiently, as he struck out two hitters without allowing a single walk or hit. LeBlanc’s outing probably gave him an early lead for the final rotation spot, but with a lot of Spring Training games still to come, the competition is far from over.

Which should be really good news for Scott Maine. Maine ended up pitching one inning on the day for the Marlins, but that was an inning to forget.

Jason Heyward greeted Maine with a shot over the right-field wall, which was followed up by Justin Upton drilling a towering home run. The home run, as it stands, was one of the longest home runs hit to left field in the stadium’s history. Maine also allowed a double to B.J. Upton, who stole third base, and then scored on a Maine wild pitch.

Overall, Maine had a very frustrating day, as did Arquimedes Caminero. Caminero who has been highly talked about so far this spring for his high velocity on his fastball, allowed two hits and walked a batter in his lone inning of work. Luckily for Caminero, he only allowed one run.

However, the worst pitching performance probably belonged to Zach Phillips. Good news for Marlins fans, he was an extreme longshot to make the team in the first place, so we do not need to dwell on him too long.

All together, the Marlins pitchers combined to pitch eight innings, allowing seven runs, while walking just two hitters, but only striking out four.

Offense Posts 14 hits:

The

of old showed up for the Miami Marlins on Monday afternoon. Marlins fans can only hope Coghlan has a bunch more of these types of games left in him for the 2013 season. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Coghlan led the game off for the Marlins with lead-off single. Coghlan would be stranded in that first inning, but he would come around to score in his second at-bat, when he doubled and scored on a Joe Mahoney‘s two-out single to right.

Mahoney, Coghlan, and Alfredo Silverio all had two hits a piece for the Marlins, who had 14 hits as a team. Even with the high hit total, the game never really seemed to be close till late.

In the eight inning, the Marlins made things interesting with a five-run eighth inning against Yohan Flande. Matt Downs and Jordan Brown led the comeback with a pair of doubles. Three of the Marlins top prospects were also able to get involved in the fun. Jake Realmuto singled and scored on a Jake Marisnick triple. Christian Yelich then drove Marisnick in on a run scoring single.

Marlins fans got to see a good glimpse of their future with these three players taking the field together and being able to do some damage to a division rival.

Overall, a good game for the Marlins to take with them offensively. Most of the pitchers in this game will not likely make a real impact with the Marlins major league roster this season, so Marlins fans should not be too discouraged by the abysmal pitching. Especially since Wade LeBlanc delivered a solid start.

The Marlins will take on the New York Mets later today. Ricky Nolasco will be making his spring debut for the Marlins. Casey Kotchman is expected to make his return from his finger injury and make his Marlins debut in this game.

Update-Marlins lineup vs Mets:

Pierre LF

Polanco 3B

Stanton DH

Brantly C

kearns RF

Kotchman 1B

Green SS

Figgins 2B

Mattison CF