Misadventures of the Tangerine Troops, Vol. III (The Inning from Hell)

The Marlins farted away a game in epic fashion Saturday night, and in the process gave us a nominee for worst fuckup of the season. There are so many tangerine dunce caps to go around for Saturday's effort, perhaps the beat writers will start mentioning them in the same breath as Lo Viste t-shirts.

"Closer" (I'm using that word lightly here) Heath Bell entered the game in the top of the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead over the Houston Astros. At the time the Marlins' win expectancy was 97%. After Chris Snyder flew out to left field to start the inning, that number rose to 99%. Bell proceeded to give up the following:

• Double to Jose Altuve, advanced to third when Emilio Bonifacio bobbled the ball after it bounced off the right-center wall
• RBI single to Travis Buck

Altuve's double, it bears mentioning, was totally catchable, but Bonifacio took a bad angle on the ball and had to reach at an awkward angle in order to make a catch (which he did unsuccessfully). It's okay, it's not like Bonifacio has been playing infield all his life (oh, wait...).

The Inning from Hell continued:

• Jordan Schafer reached base on a catcher's interference by John Buck. 
• Jed Lowrie flies out to left field.

Now there are two outs, and the Marlins still have a 2-run lead (albeit with 2 Astros on base). Miami's win expectancy is now at 93%

• JD Martinez hits an RBI single, Schafer advances to third
• Carlos Lee hits an RBI single, Justin Maxwell (pinch-running for Martinez) advances to third

Now the score is tied, and Bell's afternoon is mercifully over. Randy Choate steps in to face B Bogusevic, and then this happens: 

Oy.