With the 45's only bye directly to the semi-finals on the line, the Golden Marlins pounded the Yankees 16-4 on Sunday evening at New Scotland.
Marlins starter, Jim Ansel, pitched around two first inning errors, to give the Fish the opportunity to draw first blood in the bottom of the frame. The Marlins took advantage of that chance as the first six Fish reached base safely. Tom Maney led off with a double against Mark Marshall. After a walk to Tim Brown, Ron Lochner drilled a liner to the left center field wall to score both runners. Mike Girard followed with a solid double of his own and after a Mike Clary walk loaded the bases, Mike Ferraro doubled in two more runs. A ground out and a fielders choice left runners at 1st and third with two outs. Jim McQuade stole second and Jim Ansel followed with a 2-RBI single. Score after one inning: Marlins 6, Yankees 0.
The Marlins were right back at it, in the bottom of the second, after Ansel had set the Yankees down in order in the top of the inning. With two outs and nobody on, Tim Brown singled and stole second. Ron Lochner blooped a single to the right side that scored Brown. Tom Maney stole second (running for Lochner) and Girard followed with a 2 out RBI single. Mike Clary followed with a walk and, after a wild pitch advanced both runners, Mike Ferraro delivered those two with a 2-RBI single to make the score 10 - 0, after two.
The Yankees dented the board with 4 in the top of the 3rd inning. Al Luciano started the rally with a solid single. A Marlins error and a single by Marshall loaded the bases with nobody out. Jim Ansel struck out Jack Griffen before Mike Reutter hit a grand slam home run. Ansel came back to strike out the next two Yankees to end the rally.
The Marlins didn't allow the Yankees to feel good about the rally long, as they scored four more times in the bottom of the 3rd. Jim Ansel started the rally with one out, with his second of 3 singles on the day. Skip Treece walked and Tom Maney followed with a RBI single. Tim Brown walked and pinch hitter, John Reel, followed with a RBI single. Mike Girard cleaned up two more runs with his third hit of the game, and the Marlins led 14-4.
Mike Girard came on in relief of Ansel for the 4th and 5th innings and retired the Yankees in order in both innings, while striking out two. The end to the game came when Joe Hervieux led off the bottom of the 5th inning with a walk. Tom Maney then drilled a liner down the left field line. Herb Friedman tried to cut the ball off and injured his knee as he dove to the ground in the attempt to keep the ball from going all of the way to the fence. By the time the center fielder was able to retrieve the ball from the left field corner, Tom Maney had circled the bases with a two-run walk-off inside-the-park home run!
Final score: Golden Marlins 16 Yankees 4.
The Fish were led by: Tom Maney (single, double, HR, 3 runs, 3 RBI's); Tim Brown (single, two walks, 3 runs); Ron Lochner (2 singles, 2 runs, 3 RBI's); Mike Girard (2 singles, double, 2 runs, 3 RBI's); Mike Ferraro (2 singles, walk, 1 run, 4 RBI's); and Jim Ansel (3 singles, 1 run, 2 RBI's).
The Yankees were only able to muster the 3 hits they collected in the 3rd inning, with Mike Reutter leading the way with 4 RBI's on his grand slam.
Good luck to the Yankees in the opening round of the playoffs and beyond.
The Golden Marlins will use the 3 weeks off to try to get their injured players healthy for the semi's and finals.