Marlins Park Sparkles, But Night Belongs to Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals

Opening Night featured the brand new Marlins Park. A soldout crowd cheered on their freshly named Miami Marlins as they came on the field. Unfortunately, for the home team, there was little to cheer for after that. The St. Louis Cardinals' offense got after Marlins starting pitcher Josh Johnson right from the get go. Over six innings, Johnson gave up three runs on 10 hits. Some of those were bloopers and defensive errors, but he left quite a few directly over the plate. Meanwhile, the Cardinals' starting pitcher, Kyle Lohse, kept hitters off balance all night. He carried a no-hitter into the 7th inning. The game ended with the Cardinals adding an insurance run, the Marlins getting on the board with one run, and a dominant ninth from Cardinals closer Jason Motte.

The Marlins have to be disappointed with how they played in their home opener. They have to be wondering which Josh Johnson they will get. He has been their ace they can count on in the past, but he also has struggled with significant health issues. Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes had a misunderstanding on a ground ball. They will have to get use to playing together. Left fielder Logan Morrison's arm looked weak as he gave up several doubles that shouldn't have been. The Marlins are going to have to get used to playing together and in their new home environment.

For the reigning World Series champions, everything seemed to go as well as they could hope. Lohse looked excellent in the win. He is coming off what was likely his best season of his career, so he will try to build upon that. Offensively, the Cardinals just strung together a bunch of hits, especially against Johnson. Of their 13 hits, only three were for extra bases (all doubles), which meant they needed consecutive ones to score, which they did. Jason Motte came in to close out the game. He fired in some 99 mph fastballs as he secured the Cardinals' first win. All in all, a very good win for the boys from St. Louis.