Minute Maid Park Houston Texas
| Team | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Florida Marlins | 3 | 9 | 0 |
 | Houston Astros | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Highlights
This was kind of a tit for tat contest with the Astros scoring a run in the bottom of the 4th and the Marlins answering with a run in the top of the 5th. Then the Astros scored 2 more in the top of the sixth and the Marlins followed with 2 of their own in the top of the seventh. The Astros then waited to score their next and deciding run in the bottom the ninth so as not to allow the Marlins to answer yet again. The game started out with a bang with Marlins shortstop Handley Ramirez (We remember him from his AA days when he played for the Portland [ME] Seadogs) driving a ball deep to the left centerfield wall, which was good for a triple, but Ramirez ran thru the stop sign at third and was thrown out at the plate. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez then settled down and allowed only 1 run on five hits and three walks thru 6 innings and was in line for a win until the Marlins tied it in the 7th.
The game was interrupted briefly when it became official at the end of the 5th to award long time umpire Bruce Froemming an award for surpassing the record for longest consecutive years of service for a major league umpire at 37 years and 12 games. Cody Ross led the Marlins with a 2 for 4 night and scored 2 runs. Mark Loretta was 2 for 4 for the Astros as well while also driving in 2 runs.
The game was won in the bottom of the ninth with nobody out when Morgan Ensberg singled to left with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run. The game could arguably have been over one batter sooner had Mark Loretta not failed to notice that the single to right by Carlos Lee was bobbled by Joe Borchard and he decided to hold at third as he moved up from 2nd on the play. But as they say, it was all academic in the end.