Braves and Marlins have Slugfest.

The Atlanta Braves use 3 field goals and a touchdown to beat the Florida Marlins, who scored just  2 touchdowns. Oh, wait, sorry, wrong sport that these guys were playing. I was sure that they suited up to play football for this game.

All kidding aside, it was a slugfest at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida last night. The two teams use a combine total of 15 pitchers and 29 position players before this game was through. It seemed like everyone was used for this game and no one was off limits. I serious thought that one of the Marlin girls would be used to pinch hit in the ninth. But, by the time that the dust had settled, the Braves had done something that they have not been accustomed to this year; they won a close game.

The starting picthers, Charlie Morton for the Braves and Anibal Sanchez for the Marlins, could not make it through the 4th inning. Sanchez managed no outs in the 4th, while Morton did accomplish one. From that point, the pitching mound became a merry-go-round. I am sure that the managers and pitching coaches all got their exercise in as the doctors order for this game. I understand that Bobby Cox had to get a pinch runner because he was worn out.

As for scoring, each team seem to answer what the other would do and almost scored at will. What is amazing is that the 2 teams combined left a total of 20 runners on base; each with 10 a piece. And you know that the game is out of hand when “Lightening” Brian McCann swipes a base. Also the teams combined for a total of 36 hits (21 by the Braves and 15 by the Marlins) and the Braves threw in 3 errors for good measure.

What truly amazes me about this game is the fact that only 4 balls left the yard; 2 by each team. Typically when the scores are this high, you are seeing a lot of “taters” flying around. And the fans love those souveniers.