By Paul White, USA TODAY
Updated 1h 31m ago
MIAMI -- The Miami Marlins tried something drastic to break their six-game losing streak -- outdoor baseball -- and it worked. But don't get all crazy. Chances are good the Marlins Park roof will be closed Tuesday for the second game of a series with the Red Sox.
By Steve Mitchell, US PRESSWIRE
It began as what club president David Samson called a slump-buster, but despite a 4-1 victory that stopped the skid -- all six games were in the team's new first-year home -- don't be shocked if it's a one-night stand.
"You've got to change up," said owner Jeffrey Loria, who made the call to open the roof for just the fifth time in 33 home games. "I wasn't sure, then said, 'Let's do it.' It's very easy to play with the roof open when the sky is blue and the humidity low."
Marlins starting pitcher Josh Johnson, whose four-hitter over seven innings did more than meteorology to make the night a success, said it feels less humid on the field when the roof is open.
"By the time they close the roof in the afternoon, it's pretty humid and the humidity stays inside," Johnson said.
It was a clear 79-degree evening at game time, making the idea originally suggested by Larry Beinfest, president of baseball operations, easy to agree with.
But pardon the Marlins for being skittish about the quirky South Florida weather, the reason the new stadium has a retractable roof in the first place. They got burned -- flooded, actually -- May 3o when a surprise storm just before batting practice filled the home dugout with water.
The entire process of preparing the roof to close then actually moving it takes 20 minutes, so monitoring the skies is is crucial. It's closed routinely at 4:30 p.m. when a game is to be played indoors. That happened Monday but it was reopened at 6:40.
"It felt good, you could feel the wind," said Marlins shortstop Jose Reyes, who ran like the wind on a leadoff triple that keyed a three-run first inning and decided the game.
But there was no commitment for Tuesday, even though the Marlins has been swept in three-game series by Atlanta and Tampa Bay and fallen out of first place in the NL East.
"I wish we didn't need a slump-buster," Samson said before the game. "But this was sort of our version. The danger of this strategy is that we win and then, all of a sudden, we hear from the man upstairs and the roof is open all the time."
Just to be clear, the "man upstairs" in this case is Loria. And he knows he can't control the weather.
See photos of: Josh Johnson, Miami Marlins
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