It's hard to wax romantic about baseball at Dolphins stadium. Something about the sickly yellow-green that the klieg lights turn the grass outfield, the barren seating sections at every glance, the uncoordinated Mermaids bravely persisting as baseball's only cheerleaing squad- it just doesn't bring the George Will out of me. But it's still baseball- and for the last four days, it's been some damn good baseball.
You might not have noticed with the French handball frenzy capturing Miami yesterday, but there was another significant sports event going on in town: the first meeting of the Mets and the Marlins, which meant 20,000 ex-East Coasters filing into the stadium to try to out-chant the locals, and mostly succeeding.
Mets starter John maine was mediocre, giving up two homers and an advantage that the Marlins never really relinquished. Anibal "It Rubs The Lotion on it's Skin or Else it Gets The Hose Again" Sanchez never looked stunning, and walked a few, but kept the Mets scoreless through 93 pitches and 5 innings. Both bullpens were shaky, and Matt Lindstrom got all Kevin Gregg on our ass, blowing the save opportunity in the ninth by giving up a pinch-hit single.
But Emilio Bonifacio continued his Caesar-like conquest of Miami, reaching base on an inflied squibbler, and scoring on a Jorge Cantu walk-off single. Final score: 5-4, and the Marlins are now undefeated through four games, the only team without a loss thus far.
