Tim Hudson was a victim of bad luck, allowing one run on four hits and two walks. After the Braves tied in the ninth, the Marlins won in the 10th, taking the game, 4-3.
Three straight singles by Omar Infante, Hanley Ramirez and John Buck resulted in a run in the first for the Marlins. All three singles were grounders through holes or in the infield, and Hudson followed with a double play to end the inning. He pitched a perfect second with a groundout, flyout and strikeout. Infante doubled in the third and Ramirez walked, but Buck hit into a double play to end the threat.
Hudson's lone hard hit mistake was the Infante double in the third. Otherwise, he pitched well. Chalk it up to a sinkerballer's type of outing.
Lefties Eric O'Flaherty and Lee Hyde each pitched a scoreless inning. The top of the Marlins order struck again off Cory Gearrin in the fifth. Chris Coghlan doubled and Ramirez drove him in on a single. After Ramirez stole second, Buck singled him in. He walked the next batter and caught the final out in a rundown. Gearrin left the ball up and was hit pretty hard. First bad outing for him.
Those in attendance received the treat of Julio Teheran's first outing in the seventh. He struck Joe Thurston out for the first out. Ozzie Martinez singled on a line drive, followed by a Brett Hayes grounder that turned into a force out at second; a wide throw at first prevented a double play. Logan Morrison singled through the hole in right to push Hayes to second, but Teheran got Greg Dobbs to ground out to end the inning. Not exactly a lights out first performance for Teheran, but he pitched well with runners on and got grounders. He topped out at 96 mph.
Juan Abreu gave up a double and a walk but pitched around it in the eighth. Randall Delgado is getting better by the outing, dominating three straight batters for a perfect ninth, including strikeouts of Martinez and Hayes. Jose Ortegano gave up the game in the 10th by walking the leadoff batter, who moved to second on a sac bunt and scored on a Bryan Petersen single. Ortegano is not in anybody's favor lately this spring, it seems.
Freddie Freeman went 3-3 with three singles. Martin Prado added two hits, including his second double this spring. Nate McLouth hit a solo home run off Leo Nunez in the sixth, which is only the more encouraging for everyone. After Joe Mather singled in the ninth, Ed Lucas tripled him in for the tying run. Lucas continues to swing the bat well. Meanwhile, Diory Hernandez went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Notch one for Lucas today.
Not much from the minor leaguers offensively. Jose Constanza picked up a single on another infield hit. Matt Young and Brandon Hicks both singled in the 10th off Tom Koehler. Young was caught stealing, but Hicks moved to third on a single by J.C. Boscan. However, Mycal Jones grounded into a force to end the inning. Jones went 0-2.
Stock:
Gearrin recorded his first rough outing of Spring Training, leaving the ball and getting knocked around. It happens to sinkerballers from time to time. It's worth watching to see how he responds next time out.
Delgado isn't being considered for a roster spot out of camp, but his dominating inning only improves the trust the organization has in him. He has responded well to his first outing by throwing very well the last two times out. On a similar note, Teheran pitched well for his spring debut, especially when he had to bare down for the outs.
McLouth is looking very well at the plate right now, and he's furthering his position at second in the order each game. It's still early and he will fight some at bats at times, so don't put too much stock into it at this point.
Lucas won the battle today over Hernandez for the utility role, picking up the RBI triple while Hernandez went 0-4. Still a long way to go.