Miami Marlins

Parra Decides Game On The First Pitch

From Elias: Gerardo Parra's first-pitch leadoff home run off Tom Koehler provided the only run in the Diamondbacks' 1-0 win at Miami. The last time a first-pitch home run in the top of the first inning held up as a contest's only run was on September 14, 1993, when the Pirates' Freddy Garcia connected off the Marlins' Chris Hammond at Joe Robbie Stadium, in a game that was called due to rain after six innings. But the last time it happened in a nine-inning game was on September 2, 1963, when rookie Pete Rose went deep off the Mets' Jay Hook at the Polo Grounds in New York. That was the first of 18 career leadoff homers for Charlie Hustle, and the penultimate leadoff home run hit at the ballpark on Coogan's Bluff (the Giants' Felipe Alou would hit the last one 10 days later). Parra is the fourth player in the last 20 years to hit a leadoff homer (on any count) in the top of the first inning of a 1-0 victory, and the third to do it against the Marlins. Carlos Garcia did it in 1993, as did Jimmy Rollins at Marlins Park last August. The only player to do it against a different team since the Marlins came into existence was the Mets' Kazuo Matsui, against the Diamondbacks in 2004.