Going hitless for six innings and having your ace pounded for three runs on ten hits isn’t exactly the way the new-look Miami Marlins wanted to start their season or open their new stadium with. But that’s what happened tonight as Kyle Lohse pitched very well and got a few lucky breaks with Giancarlos (Mike) Stanton, who flied out to the warning track twice. The Marlins offense was anemic with the exception of Jose Reyes, who had two hits, and it looked like all Hanley Ramirez wanted to do was set off the gigantic home run tower display in center field. The one bright spot, kind of, was the fact that Han-Ram (or H2R??) looked pretty fluid at third base, with the exception of the swinging bunt that squirted between him and Reyes.
On the other hand, the Cardinals looked solid, nothing more, nothing less. Mike Matheny picked up his first managerial win… ever, and apparently got a water shower in the club house after the game. Lohse was very good tonight, and how about David Freese, boy do the announcers love him. Let’s face it, he is not ‘still hot’ from last post-season. He did have a nice night however, picking up the first two rbi’s of the season and plays good defense at the hot corner. The only other thing worth mentioning is Carlos Beltran. It looked like his swing is in mid-season form but appears to be really slow in right field. On one play, he turned towards the wall and looked like he was running in quick sand letting the ball one-hop the fence.
Overall, this was a nice start to the 2012 MLB season that should have some interesting races and story lines along the way.
Kevin Jackman 
Leave a Reply