arizona diamondbacks vs. miami marlins - april 28, 2012 - marlins park - miami, fl

so the marlins' rough week has continued through and beyond the week (damn wraparound series!), but i was fortunate enough to see the only decent ballgame they played all week (and then some).

ok, our offense is non-existent (though the batter formerly known as mike stanton finally hit one out during yesterday's route) and our ace is anything but. however, i got to enjoy a game while it poured outside, so consider that a marked improvement from last year.

this game wasn't in my season ticket package, so i snagged tickets a la carte when my buddy brian suggested we go. packed a crew into a family-size vehicle and headed down earlyish, with the intention of exploring a bit. this time, we finally had the chance to do just that.

i chose seats on the other side of the stadium intentionally, and i think i liked my little corner in left field better then my regular seats. set up shop in our seats and headed over to the taste of miami food court for one of the pork sandwiches that i have heard so much about. ordered one and a side of chicharrones and sat there watching a women with an actual cleaver whooping a dead pig's ass into sandwiches.

the sandwich was damn good. but while the chicharrones were hot they were ridiculously good. probably the best tasting (and worst for me) thing that i've ever had to eat at a ballpark. i ate half the basket by the time i got back to my seat, and i'm pretty sure i polished off another buddy's leftovers when he wasn't looking.

yum... pork!

on to the game:

anibal sanchez on the mound started a bit shaky and gave up two runs as a result of two consecutive doubles. but he settled down nicely and preceded to strike out 14 diamondbacks by the time he was pulled after 7. our "ace" j.j only has 25 for the season (anibal has 33). not a bad day at the office for pitching, but pitching (comparatively) hasn't been our problem; hitting has.

well, some runs were scored for a temporary reprieve from the terribleness (to return on sunday... and monday...). we had a decent chance in the second when anibal and emilio singled, and reyes moved them both over on a sac bunt. hanley flied out for out number two before lomo gets hit by a pitch, loading the bases. gabby struck out swinging and that was the end of that.

nothing substantial until the seventh, when infante, pinch hitting for the pitcher, led off with a triple and was driven in by a reyes single. in the eighth lomo led off by going deep to left field and tying the game up. game tied going in to the ninth means no heath bell (thank god), and the marlins brought in favorite part of their bullpen, steve cishek. one-two-three inning for the sidearmer, and off to the bottom half. stanton, who did not start this one, followed coughlin's lead off strike out with a single down the third base line. bonafacio gets put out unassisted by the first baseman and reyes gets an intentional pass. runners on first and second, two outs.

who do you want at the plate in this situation? even though hanley was in the midst of one of the worst slumps of his career he'd still more then likely be my choice. and he didn't disappoint, knocking a single down the third base line for a walk off win (the second hanley-induced walk-off i've witness live this year).

there's no ending in sports like a walk off, though if the panthers would have pulled off the double overtime game that they lost this past thursday to force them from the cup hunt perhaps i would be claiming something different. thinking about that game still makes me sad.

EDIT TO ADD: i forgot to mention that after the game ended the roof was opened for fireworks. very cool little display...

scanned score sheet and photos to come...

as promised...

 

visiting team (Arizona Diamondbacks) scorecard - 4/28/12

 home team (Miami Marlins) scorecard - 4/28/12