Red Sox-Marlins Live Blog: Marlins Get to Daisuke Matsuzaka Early, Defeat Red Sox 11-2 in Fort Myers

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Mar 5, 2011

Red Sox-Marlins Live Blog: Marlins Get to Daisuke Matsuzaka Early, Defeat Red Sox 11-2 in Fort Myers

Final, Marlins 11-2: Steve Cishek is now pitching for the Marlins, with Alex Hassan standing in to begin the ninth.

Hassan flares one to center for a single.

After getting the first out of the inning, Cishek faces Navarro, who follows up his home run with a bloop single to put runners on first and second.

Ryan Dent, the Red Sox' second pick in 2007, comes up for Boston, but strikes out looking on a nice pitch from Cishek.

Ryan Khoury draws a walk to load the bases, bringing  Almanzar up to the plate.

He hits a broken-bat grounder to short, flipped to second for the force to end the game.

Mid 9th, Marlins 11-2: Bobby Jenks is now on the mound for the Sox, facing Ozzie Martinez. Jenks throws three nice pitches to strike him out swinging — good start for the former closer.

Jenks easily gets Gotay thereafter, and finishes the inning by getting a flyout from Davis — nice piece of work from Jenks.

End 8th, Marlins 11-2: Michael Almanzar begins the inning with a popout to first.

Victor Garate, who is now pitching, then gives up a double to deep center to Exposito, who is playing in his second consecutive game.

Garate, though, gets out of it, getting two straight outs to end the inning without a run scoring.

Mid 8th, Marlins 11-2: Daniel Bard is now on the mound for the Sox, as Brad Davis steps in to lead off the eighth. Bard issues a four-pitch walk to start the inning.

Bonifacio comes up next, and works the count full in a lengthy at-bat.  Finally, Bonifacio draws a walk, putting two on to begin the frame.

Chris Lubanski, hitting for Wise, rips a single into right, loading the bases — tough start for bard.

The rough inning continues as Raynor pulls a good slider into left that falls in front of Hassan to bring home Davis, 10-2. The other runners held initially as the ball looked as though it could have been caught.

Bard runs the count to Torres full before getting a chopper to first. The out is recorded, but Bonifacio scores from third, 11-2.

Rottino is now up for Cousins, who was 0-4. He lines out to first on a check-swing.

After going over 30 pitches, Francona takes out Bard with two outs.  Kyle Fernandes comes on in relief. He gets a quick strikeout to end the rally.

End 7th, Marlins 9-2: Mendez gets an easy grounder to Kroeger to start the frame, bringing Navarro to the plate.

Navarro's at-bat goes quite well, as he hits a home run to left-center. In 20 games with the Sox last year, he never once went deep.

Mendez quickly recovers, though, getting the final two outs of the inning to keep the Marlins seven ahead as we go to the stretch.

Mid 7th, Marlins 9-1: All sorts of changes for the Sox. Josh Reddick stays in in right, while Kalish is now in center. Luis Exposito is now behind the plate, and Papelbon on the mound.

The closer gets his first batter swinging, with Exposito blocking the plate and throwing to first to finish the play well.

Papelbon gets ahead of Murphy 1-2, but then gives up a line drive, luckily right to left fielder Alex Hassan.

To end the inning, Papelbon gets Gotay to ground to short — good 1-2-3 inning for the closer.

End 6th, Marlins 9-1: Adalberto Mendez has come on for Hill, and he gets Youkilis to send a routine grounder to short for the first out of the inning.

Saltalamacchia skies a ball to left-center, which manages to drop in. Salty rounds first, and due to a bobble, he makes it to second easily — nice play.

After a routine second out, the Red Sox get on the board as Darnell McDonald rakes a double to left on a pitch inside, bringing in Saltalamacchia from second.

Josh Reddick comes in to pinch run for McDonald, and Nava ends the inning with a popup.

Mid 6th, Marlins 9-0: Navarro is now in for Scutaro at short. Tony Thomas replaces Pedroia at second.

Ruben Gotay is now in, and he lines a ball down the first-base line. Anderson gets a glove on it, but his throw is off-target and Gotay reaches to begin the inning — error on Anderson. Gotay advances on a wild pitch.

Bonifacio falls behind Wakefield 0-2, but fouls off a number of pitches. Finally, Bonifacio grounds it up the middle, finding a hole for his first hit of the game. Gotay scores from second, 8-0.

Wise gets another hit, putting runners on the corners.

John Raynor, having taken over in left, strikes out swinging for the second out of the inning — he wasn't even close.

Sanchez continues to be a thorn in the Sox' side, slapping a base hit to drive in Bonifacio. That'll be it for Wakefield, his pitch count having risen near 60.

T.J. Large has come on for Wakefield. The Pawtucket call-up was drafted in 2005, and he's yet to pitch in the majors.

Large gets ahead of Cousins 0-2, but then lets him back into the at-bat with two balls. Finally, Cousins flies to center — a relatively tough play for Cameron after he botches his jump. Still, the play ends the inning.

End 5th, Marlins 7-0: Hill gets Anderson on a tapper to the right side — sure feels like a lot of Sox at-bats have resulted in exactly that.

Scutaro slaps a double down the left-field line after falling behind 0-2 — nice piece of hitting for the leadoff man. Navarro replaces him on the base path.

Hill, though, recovers to quickly get Pedroia and Ortiz, keeping the Red Sox off the scoreboard for yet another inning.

Mid 5th, Marlins 7-0: Wakefield continues his strong outing by getting Morrison, but finally allows a baserunner with a walk to Gabby Sanchez, who has now been on base each time that he has come to bat.

Wakefield, though, rebounds well, striking Cousins out on three pitches, and he follows that up by getting Kroeger to cap off his second straight scoreless frame.

End 4th, Marlins 7-0: Sanchez is out after three shutout innings, replaced by Shawn Hill on the mound.

After a long at-bat, Ortiz draws a walk from Hill.

Hill thereafter gets Youkilis on a routine flyout to center.

Saltalamacchia gets a nice cut on the ball, but he hits it off the end of the bat and flies out to right for the second out of the inning.

Mike Cameron puts a fastball between third and short for a single to advance Ortiz to second — nice piece of hitting.

McDonald hacks at the first pitch and chops it right down the third-base line. The long throw to first is off-line, and everybody is safe — bases loaded.

Nava, though, can't deliver. He taps it to second, and Hill gets out of the inning.

Mid 4th, Marlins 7-0: Wakefield comes on in relief of Matsuzaka, and he gets Hayes to fly out to McDonald to begin his outing.

He quickly gets Bonifacio and Wise thereafter, ending what was a very quick inning for the ageless wonder.

End 3rd, Marlins 7-0: After going up 3-1 in the count, Sanchez recovers to get Anderson on a routine grounder to short.

Scutaro flies out harmlessly immediately thereafter, and Pedroia follows that up with a tapper to second, which Bonifacio gets to Kroeger in time for the out to end the inning.

Mid 3rd, Marlins 7-0: Dice-K falls behind Sanchez 3-0 and walks him two pitches later.

On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Dice-K induces a hard grounder to Pedroia. He doesn't quite get it out of his glove cleanly, so he goes to first to get Cousins for the sure out — Sanchez to second.

Kroeger hits a sharp grounder up the middle, which Pedroia fields off the outfield grass. He fires a high throw, but Anderson makes the catch for the run-saving out — Sanchez to third. Clearly, Pedroia's defense is already at an in-season level.

Matsuzaka nibbles around Murphy, eventually conceding a walk to him after a number of high pitches — runners on the corners.

In a 1-2 count, Dominguez golfs one into deep left-center for a double. Both runners score, but Dominguez gets caught between second and third and is tagged out to end the frame.

End 2, Marlins 5-0: After a long battle, Sanchez blows one past Cameron for a strikeout on a full count to start the second — Anibal's third K in four outs.

Darnell McDonald works his at-bat for a handful of pitches before grounding sharply to short for the second out.

Sanchez gets Nava to fly out harmlessly to left after three good pitches. He's settled in very well after giving up two baserunners to start the game.

Mid 2nd, Marlins 5-0: Daisuke begins the second well, getting Dominguez to pop out to Scutaro.

As occurred in the first, though, Matsuzaka follows up the opening out by surrendering a hit. Hayes lines one to left after Dice-K missed his spot, leaving it inside when it was meant to go outside.

Bonifacio lays down a great bunt, but Saltalamacchia makes a solid play to beat him to first. Hayes, though, does advance.

Wise follows up his first-inning line-drive single with a far better result, homering to right on a misplaced slider from Dice-K, well over the wall — 5-0.

Thereafter, Matsuzaka ends the inning, getting a grounder from Morrison.

End 1st, Marlins 3-0: Scutaro leads things off for the Sox with a walk, which Pedroia follows up with a nice line-drive single into right — good piece of opposite-field hitting on what was a good pitch from Sanchez. Scutaro ends up only at second, as the ball was hit very sharply.

Sanchez comes back with a strikeout of Ortiz, locating his pitches well before getting away with a high breaking ball for the swinging K. He follows that success up with a three pitch strikeout of Youkilis, also swinging.

Sanchez ends the inning by getting Saltalamacchia on two pitches, as Salty grounds to second harmlessly, stranding Pedroia and Scutaro.

Mid 1st, Marlins 3-0: Daisuke starts off his outing well, getting Bonifacio on two pitches with an easy grounder to Pedroia.

Matsuzaka followed that good at-bat with a poor one, making a mistake on the first pitch to give up a line-drive single to center for Wise.

The very next pitch resulted in an odd series of events. Morrison's sharp ball to Pedroia sets up a potential double-play, but Pedroia and Scutaro can't connect, and the ball dribbles towards third. Wise advances to third on the play, avoiding Youkilis' tag.

With runners on the corners, Dice-K hangs a breaking ball after a lengthy at-bat with Sanchez. He hits it into the gap in right-center, scoring both Wise and Morrison on the double — nice piece of hitting by Sanchez.

With an 0-2 count, Dice-K puts one in the dirt, and Sanchez beats Saltalamacchia's throw to third. On the next pitch, Matsuzaka comes back and gets Cousins for a strikeout.

Matsuzaka can't quite get out of it, though. Kroeger knocks a first pitch single past Pedroia into right field for an RBI, scoring Sanchez to make it 3-0.

Kroeger subsequently advances to second on a stolen base — great jump. Finally, after a lengthy at-bat, Dice-K induces a popup from Murphy for the final out.

1 p.m.: The first pitch is just moments away.

8 a.m.: The Red Sox will be playing two games Saturday, but this isn't your traditional doubleheader. For the first of four times this spring, the squad will split in two for the day.

Half of the team will make the trip to Sarasota to take on the Orioles, while the remainder will stay in Fort Myers to take on the Marlins. Florida was a respectable 80-82 in 2010, but with former manager Fredi Gonzalez heading to Atlanta, the duties have been handed to first-time skipper Edwin Rodriguez.

For what it's worth, Florida is just 1-4 this spring.

First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

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