Marlins lose lead but win in walk-off fashion
Marlins lose lead but win in walk-off fashion
Greg Dobbs delivered a two-out RBI single off Frank Francisco in the ninth inning, rallying the Marlins to a 6-5 win over the Mets.
The Marlins have played 12 games in their new home, and four of them have finished in walk-off fashion.
The crowd of 31,007 erupted as Dobbs' single dropped into short right field, giving the Marlins their ninth win in 10 games.
"Very loud and very fun," Dobbs said of the atmosphere. "There is nothing to describe that kind of feeling, when you can have one swing of the bat, and a little bloop hit brings 31,000 people to their feet and makes them scream and clap. You feel the love, you feel the happiness in the building. It's special. It's extremely special."
Miami is on a special roll after a disappointing April. They're 9-1 in May, posting the most victories in the month of any big league club.
Heath Bell, who threw a perfect ninth with his team trailing by a run, collected his first win as a Marlin.
"It's one of those things where this is a ball team," said Bell (1-3), who has been returned the closer role after some rough outings. "We've come together big time. It's one of those things where we started the year off and didn't play well.
"Guys weren't playing up to their ability. We all started patting each other on the back. We didn't look and go, 'Man, why aren't you doing this?' We kept patting each other on the back, saying, 'Don't worry, you can do it.' It's starting to come around. Our abilities are starting to come out. That's the one scary thing about this team. There is not one guy we're leaning on. There is not one starter or one position player that is just raking and carrying us through the hard times. Everybody is helping out."
It was a group effort on Friday, starting from Mark Buehrle's impressive 6 2/3 innings, in which he gave up two runs. Omar Infante went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Austin Kearns, getting the start late because Logan Morrison's right knee was a little sore, delivered a two-run homer off Johan Santana, who settled in after giving up three runs in the first.
"I think overall it was a great game," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Santana once again pitched tremendous, even though he had a very shaky first inning with a couple of bad pitches, a home run.
"Buehrle threw the ball very well. The bullpen was shaky today. The offense stepped it up today. The offense went down there the last couple of innings and had good at-bats. The last two innings went well."
With the Marlins trailing by a run in the ninth, Giancarlo Stanton blistered a double to left-center off Francisco, and moved to third on Gaby Sanchez's fly ball to center. The Mets pulled in the infield, and Emilio Bonifacio grounded a game-tying single to right.
Bonifacio stole second, his second steal of the night and 17th of the year. With two outs, Dobbs floated a soft liner into right field, and Bonifacio scored easily as the Marlins spilled onto the field.
"You only can control where you throw the ball. You cannot control the results," Francisco said of Dobbs' hit. "I thought I made a good pitch. I jammed him. But it ended up in the right spot."
After going 8-1 on their road trip, the Marlins rejoiced in their first win after returning home.
An inning earlier it appeared as though the Mets would continue to frustrate the Marlins with a late rally. In late April the Mets swept the Marlins at Citi Field. In all three games, New York came back after trailing after the fifth.
The Marlins led by three runs after the first inning but fell behind after the Mets scored three times in the eighth.
Edward Mujica entered in the eighth with the Marlins clinging to a one-run edge. New York sent nine to the plate and scored three runs, highlighted by Kirk Nieuwenhuis' game-tying double and Mike Baxter's go-ahead two-run double, which was off Ryan Webb. Both were pinch-hits. David Wright started the inning with a double.
In the bottom of the eighth, Miami chipped back with a run on Infante's RBI double off Bobby Parnell. Infante's third hit of the night, and second RBI, came after Jose Reyes reached on Ike Davis' error.
With the win, the Marlins improved to 2-7 against the National League East. Picking it up against division rivals is crucial.
"It's extremely important, because these are the teams you play the most," Dobbs said. "You can't win any other division. You can only win yours. That's our goal.
"The Mets are a tough team. I mean, you look at their lineup. What they've been able to do for a little over the first month of the season, it's pretty impressive. They played us really well at their place, too. They won all those games. We can't play them easy. We have to bring our 'A' game, no matter if we're playing the Mets or anyone else."