Miami Marlins

Red Sox 10, Marlins 2

Unfriendly confines of home continue for Miami Marlins after loss to Boston Red Sox

 

The Red Sox took two of three games in the series at Marlins Park, where Miami went 1-8 in homestand that mercifully ended on Wednesday.

 

Marlins infielders wait while relief pitcher Ryan Webb warms up in the eighth tinning in the game with the Miami Marlins and the Boston Red Sox at Marlins Park in Miami on June 13th, 2012.
Marlins infielders wait while relief pitcher Ryan Webb warms up in the eighth tinning in the game with the Miami Marlins and the Boston Red Sox at Marlins Park in Miami on June 13th, 2012.
Joe Rimkus Jr. / Staff Photo

cspencer@miamiherald.com

It’s becoming home stink home for the Marlins, who are finding nothing friendly about their new confines. The Marlins closed out a dreadful home stand on Wednesday — one in which they lost eight of the nine games — with a dud of a 10-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Given that it all started with a humbling 11-0 defeat to the Braves, it was symmetrically appropriate that the ender was just about as lopsided. The Marlins didn’t tally their first hit off Felix Doubront until Jose Reyes homered with two outs in the sixth, and fell completely apart in the eighth when the Red Sox pushed six runners across the plate.

Over the nine games, the Marlins were outscored 56-17.

As a team, they hit .197.

With runners in scoring position, they were even worse: a paltry .127.

They’ve gone from a virtual tie for first in the National League East to a backpedaling fourth, seven full games behind the streaking Washington Nationals. And now they venture out on the road to face two of the teams — the Rays and Red Sox — who just got done working them over at Marlins Park.

They’re now 17-18 in their new palace.

The joy of May, their best month in franchise history, has quickly given way to a sobering June. Wednesday’s loss was a slow burn early before erupting into a five-alarm blaze toward the end.

Ricky Nolasco gave up an unearned run in the third stemming from a bad-hop single by Mike Aviles that center fielder Justin Ruggiano couldn’t handle. And he gave up an opposite-field solo shot to David Ortiz in the fourth that sailed into The Clevelander on the line.

In a friendly way, Ortiz aimed the Marlins’ signature “lo viste” gesture at Reyes as he rounded second, forming a sideways V with his fingers over his right eye. It was Big Papi’s 15th home run.

But it was the sixth that did in Nolasco, who gave up three straight singles for one run and a sacrifice fly for another that left the Marlins in a 4-0 hole. After starting out 4-0, Nolasco now has lost five of his past seven decisions.

Then again, the Marlins haven’t been giving their pitchers little -- if any -- chance to win. Wednesday was just one more example, as Doubront looked like an ace and not the fourth pitcher in Boston’s five-man rotation.

The converted reliever not only went a career-long seven innings at Marlins Park, but kept 33,119 in suspense until Reyes brought his no-hit bid to an end with his second home run of the season. The 419-foot shot to left came on the first pitch to Reyes, one of the few Marlins who has shown any life of late.

The Marlins made some noise in the seventh when Hanley Ramirez singled and Giancarlo Stanton doubled to start the inning. But Doubront held the Marlins to only one run, thanks in no small part to a base running blunder by Stanton. He made the mistake of going for third on a sharp grounder hit in front of him to the shortstop, and he was thrown out easily.

No matter.

The Red Sox, who are a faded facsimile of the juggernaut Boston teams that won World Series titles in 2004 and ’07, put the game out of reach in the eighth as they sent 11 men to the plate, scoring six runs.

Even with the game out of the reach, manager Ozzie Guillen used lightly used closer Heath Bell in the ninth, most likely just to get in some work. A couple of misplays in the field extended the inning, and Bell was lifted after striking out Will Middlebrooks for the second inning out of the inning.

When Bell returned to the dugout, he appeared upset with the decision.

Later, he approached Guillen, and the two appeared to make peace, patting one another on the back.

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