The Platinum Marlins eked out a 6-5 victory at the C-Diamond in Schenectady on Tuesday night.
The Marlins took control early, with 2 runs in the top of the 2nd on 4 singles by Jim McQuade, Steve Schafer, Kevin Jackson, and Chuck Stanley.
They made it 4-0, in the top of the 3rd, on key hits from Ralph Caputo and Steve Schafer.

It looked like the Marlins would cruise in this one, but after two were out in the bottom of the 3rd, the Twins #11 hitter nubbed a seemingly harmless grounder in front of the plate.
Marlins pitcher, Mike Girard picked up, what should have been an easy 3rd out, and fired it wide of first base. As all good teams do, the Twins took advantage of this extra out, and plated 4
unearned runs to tie the game, before Girard could escape the jam.

The game remained tied until the top of the 5th, when the Marlins rallied for two runs . The rally started with a single by John Corrigan. One out later, Mike Girard blooped a single to center, leaving runners on 1st and 3rd.
The go ahead run scored when Girard and Corrigan worked a double steal. Jim McQuade followed with a RBI single, and the Marlins again had a two run lead (6-4).
The Twins would get a single run, in the bottom of the 6th inning, on a single by Stefan Koutsakis, and a RBI double by Mike Ruslander. Girard, however, would settle in and get the next 3 hitters in order to preserve the 6-5 lead.

The game would go right down to the last out, as the Twins would get the tying and winning runs on in the bottom of the 7th. Girard reached down for a little extra, and got the final out on a pop out to 2nd, with runners on 1st and 2nd.

Mike Girard got the complete game victory by scattering 10 Twins hits, 3 walks, 2 hit batters; all while striking out 8.

This is not your Daddy's Twins. They have a potent top of the order, and have much better pitching and defense than in the past few years.
They will be a tough out come playoff time. I personally am looking forward to playing them again, as our teams match up quite well, and the games are likely to be competitive.

-- Edited by mgirard11 on Thursday 15th of June 2017 09:17:17 AM