Marlins Finish Off Miserable Home Stand
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Marlins have finally finished one of the worst home stands since June 2011 with a 10-2 thumping at the hands of the Boston Red Sox. The home stand was miserable for both the team and the fans.
Through the home stand of nine games, the Marlins were outscored by a mark of 56-17. The losses piled up so fast that it took Miami from a first place tie with the Washington Nationals to just 2.5 games ahead of last place Philadelphia.
The Marlins hit just .197 for the home stand, which is south of the proverbial Mendoza line. That wasn't the ugliest number through the home stand; the Marlins hit just .127 with runners in scoring position through the nine games.
Since moving into the new Marlins Park at the beginning of the season, the Marlins have managed to put together a losing record at home (17-18). The team has struggled at times to figure out whether to keep the roof open or closed for games.
Then in the ninth inning of Wednesday night's blowout loss, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen and closing pitcher Heath Bell clashed on the mound.
Bell wanted to finish out the game after starting the ninth inning. He got two batters out, but also let two base runners get on base. When Guillen came out to pull Bell, the pitcher lobbied to stay in the game.
Guillen then snapped at Bell as he left the mound. Bell looked back, but kept on walking. The duo had another exchange in the dugout before being separated by coach Joey Cora.
"It was basically like two bulls hit in the head." a contrite Bell said later. "Ozzie was upset we were losing. I just said, 'I can get this guy out.' I apologize. I didn't mean any disrespect. It could have been huge, but it really wasn't."
Guillen said the matter was settled.
"I thought I overheard something," Guillen said. "We already talked about it, and it's over with. It's not a big deal. I thought I heard something different."
It was a rare moment of fire displayed by one of the Marlins players who basically showed up at each game of the home stand, but didn't play baseball well.
The Marlins have Thursday off before they head up the road to Tampa to take on the Rays. The Marlins then head to Boston to take on the Red Sox before returning home to start another home stand.
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