Dropped in batting order, Bonifacio finally gets an extra-base hit
Struggling Miami Marlins center fielder Emilio Bonifacio was dropped in the batting order from second to seventh Wednesday, and it seems to have paid off.
Bonifacio went 2-for-6. More important, the Marlins won 5-3 in 12 innings at Houston to cap their best road trip ever at 8-1.
Bonifacio's second hit of the game was a double, which was his first extra-base hit of the season. That snapped a franchise-record streak of 28 consecutive singles to open the season.
The six-year major league veteran went into Wednesday hitting a season-low .233 after going hitless in his first seven at-bats in Houston.
He has started every game and hit second 27 times and leadoff three times.
"Right now I feel I'm swinging at pitches out of the strike zone," Bonifacio said before the game.
Manager Ozzie Guillen said Bonifacio needs to relax and hopes to get him back at the top of the order soon.
"When he's hot, he's very hot," Guillen said. "When he's cold, wow! I don't know why, his game is running. I think we're a better team with Boni at the top of the lineup."
