U.S. Baseball: Delgado starts off well with Marlins

April 7, 2005

Carlos Delgado was impressive in his National League debut with the Florida Marlins on Tuesday after getting off to a slow start. In the first inning, the Marlins scored five runs off Atlanta Braves starting pitcher John Smoltz, while Delgado struck out on three pitches. Delgado made up for this disappointment by following it with four straight hits, hitting four-for-five with three RBIs en route to a 9-0 victory.

Before the start of the season, there was some concern about how the change from American to National League would affect the slugger's performance. Delgado spent the past thirteen seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays before signing a four-year, $52 million contract with the Marlins. Marlins manager Jack McKeon said, wryly, "Many of the writers asked during spring training if his change of leagues was going to be a factor. In the first inning, it was." Delgado has certainly made an impact on the Marlins organization, and there is a lot of excitement in Miami over his new arrival. Opening day attendance was a record sell-out at Dolphins Stadium of 57,405, and spirits are high as the Marlins are one of the favourites to win the National League East, thanks in no small part to Delgado's presence. But, the baseball season is a long road to travel; as Delgado said, "Obviously, we have good talent here. We've got to go out and play. Because we've got such and such, and we picked up this guy, that doesn't mean anything. You've got to go out and do it on the field. Yeah, it was a great game. But it's over now."

Today's game was played in front of 57,405 at Dolphins Stadium.

Box score

 * WP: Josh Beckett (1-0)
 * LP: John Smoltz (0-1)