MIAMI - GAME RECAP

August 11th - Florida 13, Houston 5 - Attendance 20,134

Ryan Dempster was the Marlin hurler today against Brian Powell for the Astros. The game got off to a quick start as Craig Biggio hit the first pitch of the game for a home run to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. But the Marlins responded with two doubles in the bottom half of the first to tie the game.

In the third, Luis Castillo led off with a walk for Florida, followed by a Derrek Lee single. After Cliff Floyd flied out deep to right, Mike Lowell walked to load the bases. Kevin Millar then doubled in two runs to bring Preston Wilson to the plate. Wilson had been hurt for over a month and he had just returned from a short rehab with Calgary. He was back in form today, though, with a massive shot to give the Marlins a 6-1 lead. As he crossed home plate, he pointed to the sky in a tribute to his premature child who had died only a couple of weeks earlier.

Wilson swings

In the fourth, the Astros tried a comeback as Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman hit back-to-back homers to cut the lead to 6-3, but Lowell replied with a 3-run homer in the bottom half and it was 9-3. In the fifth, Houston tried again, as Dempster walked three in a row before Orlando Merced singled in two runs. But that was all that Houston could get, and the Marlins pounded Nelson Cruz for 4 runs in the 8th to make the final 13-5. 

Out at first

Three Marlins had 3 RBI's as the entire team was hitting very well, but the game was long and not that interesting, so it only gets a 5/10 - probably one of the less enjoyable games we have seen on the trip.

August 12th - Houston 10, Florida 5 - Attendance 13,330

A very hot day in Miami as the rubber game of the series got underway. The first three innings were very exciting, as Andy Fox got the Marlins started with a homer off of the right field foul pole in the 1st. Lance Berkman tied it up with a solo shot over my head in the second, but he quickly became the goat in the bottom half of the inning. With Preston Wilson on second, Mike Redmond hit a line drive to center. Berkman ran after it and dove, but the ball got by him and rolled all the way to the fence, 434 feet away from home plate. Redmond chugged around second and was visibly tiring as he was waved home - he tripped once, twice, but eventually made it home in time, belly flopping on home plate with an inside-the-park home run.

Houston scored another run in the third, and the score was 3-2 after three, and the game looked to be interesting. In the fifth an error by Marlin starter Matt Clement allowed Houston to tie the game, but Jose Vizcaino made a miscue of his own in the bottom half that allowed Florida to retake the lead.

In the 6th, Clement tired, giving up a walk and a triple before being removed with one out. Reliever Ricky Bones didn't have better luck, giving up another triple and a homer to Bagwell, and Houston had grabbed a 7-4 advantage. But Preston Wilson led off the Marlin 6th with his second homer in two days, and Florida was within 2.

But Houston would not be denied today, as they hit back-to-back jacks for the second day in a row; Darryl Ward and Vinny Castilla doing the honours today. The final was 10-5 Houston in a game that started well, but took too long to complete in the hot afternoon. It was Billy the Marlin's birthday party and lots of other mascots were visiting, but unfortunately that's not enough to save this game from getting a 6/10.

Miami Heat mascot Burnie gets a makeover