Coghlan powers the Fish over the Nats; Grapefruit League: Florida Marlins vs. Washington Nationals

On an extremely hot day in Viera, Florida the Florida Marlins traveled from Jupiter to play the Washington Nationals in their former spring training home. The Marlins in the 3rd inning took the first lead of the game. National pitcher Ross Detwiler hit Chris Coghlan in the head with a pitch, safe to say this was payback from Ricky Nolasco hitting Nyjer Morgan (who was traded right before the game to the Milwaukee Brewers) and Danny Espinosa, and then on a double by Greg Dobbs with two outs, Coghlan made it home barely safe. The Nationals in the bottom of the 3rd; Ian Desmond with 1 out and no one on tripled to right field and Jayson Werth with an RBI sac tied the game up at 1. Nationals' Michael Morse hit a lead off solo home run in the 6th to give the Nationals a 2-1 lead. Next batter grounded out, then in the 3rd spot (of the inning) Espinosa singled and then stole 2nd and 3rd on Brian Sanches. A wild pitch by Sanches brought Espinosa home to extend the lead to 3-1. The 7th inning was a great one for the Marlins. A lead off single by Scott Cousins started it all. Brad Davis then also singled, and on a bunt attempt by Ozzie Martinez, Ryan Zimmerman made a fielding error allowing the bases to be loaded. The Marlins then put Jeff Dominguez to pinch hit for the pitcher Sanches and he hit an RBI single bringing in Cousins, 3-2 Nationals. Coghlan hit a beautiful line drive to right field which resulted in a 3 RBI triple which gave the Marlins the lead again at 5-3. There was still no outs in this inning when Doug Slaten walked Emilio Bonifacio, who then stole 2nd. With 1 out Wes Helms brought Coghlan home with a RBI sac fly to right field. Which then ended the rally at 6-3 Marlins. In the bottom of the 9th the Nationals scored a run but still fell 6-4 to the Marlins. Brian Sanches got the win for the Marlins, Brian Broderick got the loss for the Nationals, and Daniel Jennings got the save.

Starting line up

Nationals' starting pitcher, Ross Detwiler

Marlins' starting pitcher, Adalberto Mendez

Greg Dobbs at bat. (I just think this photos cool.)

Chris Coghlan clearly makes it safe and the ump agrees.

Rick Ankeil batting. (Also thought this was pretty cool.)

Jeff Dominguez scores uncontested.

Dan Jennings pitching and recieved the save.

Grapefruit League: Florida Marlins vs. Boston Red Sox (Picture Post)

On March 12th, 2011 at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers at 1:05 p.m., I watched my Marlins take on my Red Sox.

This is the starting line up for the game. (The hand is some dad explaining the line up to his kid.)

Adrian Gonzalez's first at bat during his Red Sox debut, which he winded up getting a single off Marlins' pitcher Josh Johnson. He only had one more at bat after which was an sac fly which scored Jacoby Ellsbury.

John Lackey recieved the winning decision after pitching for 4.1 innings allowing 6 hits, 1 run (earned), and struck out 3 Marlins, leaving with an ERA of 1.74.

The starting catcher for the Red Sox, Jarrod Saltalamacchia (such a long name), went 1-for-2; walked in the 1st, struck out swinging in the 3rd, and an RBI single in the 5th off of Marlins' pitcher, Ryan Webb.

Josh Johnson, the Marlins' starting pitcher, left the game with an ERA of 10.00. He pitched for 3.2 innings allowing 9 hits, 5 runs (all earned and 1 was a solo home run), walked 1 batter, and struck 2 batters. Also JJ did not get the pick off of Mike Cameron (#23) and Mike actually winded up stealing 2nd base after this picture.

My favorite MLB player, Kevin Youkilis, didn't do so great during my first Red Sox game. He went 0-for-3; flied out to the short stop in the 1st, grounded out to the pitcher in the 2nd, and flied out to the right fielder in the 4th.

Randy Williams came into relieve Lackey in the 5th inning with 1 out and pitched the entire 6th inning. Williams didn't allow any hits, runs, or walks. He did though strike out 3 batters.

Marlins' starting DH, John Baker, started the game off with an RBI single off Lackey in the 2nd, flied out to right field in the 4th, and flied out to left field in the 7th. John is the only Marlin to get an RBI in the game.

Vinny Rottino and Tim Torres almost collide on a routine infield pop fly.

Matt Fox pitched for the Red Sox in the 8th inning allowing 1 hit and 1 run while walking and striking out 1 batter.

Vinny Rottino in his only at bat, of the game in the 8th, flied out to right field and moved a runner to 3rd.

Osvaldo "Ozzie" Martinez, also, his first and only at bat of the game in the 8th inning made contact but by a fielding error by Red Sox 3rd baseman, Ryan Khoury, got to hold first and bring home Chris Lubanski.

Unpictured Notable Players

Marlins:

Logan Morrison went 1-for-3; struck out in the 1st, doubled in the 3rd, and flied out to left field in the 5th.

John Buck went 1-for-3; singled in the 2nd, flied out in the 3rd, and struck out swinging in the 6th.

Donnie "Bleeping" Murphy went 1-for-3; singled in the 2nd, lined out to 2nd base in the 4th, and struck out swinging in the 6th.

Matt Dominguez, who is fighting for a starting spot with the big league club, went 1-for-3.

Tom Koehler pitched for 2.2 innings allowing only 2 hits, walked a batter, and a strike out.

Red Sox:

Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-for-3; doubled in the 1st, 2 RBI double in the 2nd, and hit a solo home run in the 4th.

Dustin Pedroia went 3-for-3; RBI single in the 1st, singled in the 2nd, and singled in the 4th.

David Ortiz went 2-for-3; 2 doubles.

J.D. Drew went 0-for-3; grounded out in the 1st, lined out to the short stop in the 3rd, and grounded out in the 5th.

Marco Scutaro went 0-for-2; grounded out in the 2nd and flied out to right field in the 4th.

Random Photos

Dustin Pedrioa calling for the ball to avoid a possible collision with the right fielder.

Logan Morrison watching as the ball sailed in to center field in the 3rd inning, which he was able to get a double out of.

Josh Kroeger attempting to catch a ball drilled by David Ortiz that bounced off the wall.

John Baker and Donnie "Bleeping" Murphy signing autographs after they ran during the game.

Our usher singing "Sweet Caroline" even after it shut off and the game resumed he continued to sing another usher tried to get him to stop. It was great reminded me of a usher we have in Jacksonville.

Vinny Rottino falling while making the catch.

Grapefruit League: Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals (Picture Post)

Well I kept score in this game, but I guess I was too excited being back at a baseball game to do it accurately so good thing for online box scores!

Well the day started for me with a 2 hour drive to Viera, waiting 30 minutes with a full bladder to get into the stadium, and then 90 minutes by the Nationals dugout hoping to score a Bryce Harper or any other player autograph (nothing). Though while I was by the dugout I did get to see a glimse of Bryce! All was well I've had my share of unproductive days in the sun at a baseball field.

The day started out a bit gloomy with 60% chance of percepitation, but by game time it was sunny.

Ross Detwiler pitched spectacular even with given the lossing decision. He pitched 3 innings with only allowing 1 hit, 1 run (not earned), and walked only 1 batter. He struck out 5 players; Martin Prado looking in the 1st, David Ross swinging in the 2nd, Tommy Hanson swinging the 3rd, Martin Prado looking in the 3rd (2nd time), and Jordan Schafer swinging in the 3rd. The 3rd inning for Detwiler was 3 up 3 down, all down by strike outs.

The Nationals newly signed right fielder, Jayson Werth, making New York Yankee money. Werth in this at bat grounded out to the Braves starting pitcher, Tommy Hanson. Werth ended up 0-for-3 with a groundout in the 1st, struck out looking in the 4th, and another groundout in the 7th.

Newly signed Braves 2nd baseman, previously with the Marlins, Dan Uggla went 1-for-3 with a groundout in the 2nd, a single line drive to right field in the 4th, and struck out swinging in the 6th.

Jason Heyward, former hot shot prospect, headed to his sophmore season with the Atlanta Braves. Heyward was 1-for-1 in this game, walked his first time up in the 2nd inning, hit in the foot by a pitch in the 4th, and singled to center field in the 9th. Then manager Freddie Rodriguez (successor to Bobby Cox) substituted him with a pinch runner in Wilkin Ramirez.

The MLB's 2011 First-Year Player Draft's 1st overall pick by the Nationals, Bryce Harper, makes hard contact on his only at bat of the game, but the Braves left fielder, Martin Prado, made an amazing diving catch to make him the 3rd out of the 7th inning.

Luis Atilano pitched for an inning allowing 3 hits, 3 runs 2 of which earned, walked 1, and no strike outs. He finished his 1 inning of work with an ERA of 18.

Unpictured notable players and game notes:
Atlanta Braves-

The Braves as a team offensively went 9-for-35; 7 singles and 2 doubles, 10 strike outs, and left 13 runners on base. Defensively allowed 2 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 9.
Chipper Jones started the game at 3rd base played well defensively and offensively went 1-for-3 with groundout in the 1st, doubled to center field and scored in the 4th, and struck out looking in the 6th (after what looked to be a bad call by the home plate umpire when the count was 3-1). Every time Chipper Jones came up to bat the Braves fans showed him their love.

Tommy Hanson was the starting pitcher for the Braves, he pitched 3 innings allowing no hits, no runs, and only 1 hit. Though Hanson only struck out Danny Espinosa, he recieved the winning decision.

Cristhian Martinez came into pitch after Hanson's 3 innings and pitched for 2 innings. Martinez allowed 1 hit and struck out 5 (all looking); Ian Desmond looking in the 4th, Jayson Werth looking in the 4th (back-to-back), Wilson Ramos looking in the 5th, (Laynce Nix singled), Danny Espinosa looking in the 5th, and Michael Aubrey looking in the 5th.


Washington Nationals-

The Nationals as a whole offensively went 2-for-29; 2 singles, 9 strike outs, and 5 runners left on base.
Defensively allowed 9 hits, 5 runs which 3 were earned, walked 2, and struck out 10.

The Braves won this game 5-0 at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Florida on March 6th, 2011. The Braves advantaced to 7-2 while the Nationals went to 4-3.

After the game I headed back to the Washington Nationals dugout where I got a baseball signed and a picture with Bryce Harper!