Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too?

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Hanley Ramirez.  3-5 with two walks, two runs, an RBI, a home run, and a number of fine defensive plays.  Honorable mention to Josh Johnson and Aaron Harang who had themselves an epic duel.

Key Plays

• Hanley Ramirez hit a home run in the first inning.  It was his 4th home run off of Aaron Harang in 19 at-bats.
• In the sixth inning, Ramirez struck again, singling to lead off the inning.  He was later driven in by a Jeremy Hermida single.  Marlins lead, 2-0.
• Josh Johnson had been thoroughly dominating the Reds, but they finally broke through in the seventh.  Phillips, Bruce, and Hernandez hit singles to start the inning and draw within one run.  There were runners on the corners with no outs, and Adam Rosales scrappily grounded into a double play to tie the game.  The potential to get more was there, and the Reds would rue their inability to make that happen.
• In the eighth, the Reds had two runners on and one out with Votto and Phillips up, but the Florida bullpen won in a game of knifey-spoony.
• Things got dicey in the ninth as Arthur Rhodes and Nick Masset contrived to load the bases before retiring Jorge Cantu to send the game into overtime.  Dusty did not make a double switch when he put in Masset, and his batting spot was due up the next inning.  Thus, the bullpen's long reliever faced two batters and logged one out - in a 14 inning game.
• Alex Gonzalez left the game in the 11th with a strained oblique muscle.  Paul Janish replaced him and went 2-2, though he was erased in the twelfth on a double play ball by Darnell McDonald.
• Mike Lincoln got two quick outs in the bottom of the twelfth, then loaded the bases before Cody Ross swung at ball four to end the threat.
• Ramon Hernandez caught a guy stealing.  I won't say that's a rare occurance, but Shaq has caught more guys stealing and he's only a sheriff in the offseason.
• After flirting with danger for so long, the bullpen finally put on its "Askin' for it" skirt.  Danny Ray Herrera came in to pitch the fourteenth inning, but walked Ronny Paulino, gave up a single to Hanley Ramirez (that guy again!), and then Jorge Cantu hit a grounder to Votto, who threw it to Janish, who... threw it away and Paulino scored.  Game over.  [/dying Pac-Man noise]

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Harang struck out 9.  And didn't get any run support until his last inning of work.  Frankly, the clubhouse manager in Miami dodged a bullet.
• Weathers and Rhodes still haven't allowed an earned run.
• Lincoln pitched two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 12.19.
• The Marlins bullpen pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, including 3 by Burke Badenhop.
• The Marlins used 19 players, including all of their position players.  The Reds used 20, but not their big power threat off the bullpenbench.
• Paul Janish is batting .412.