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MIAMI -- Slugger Giancarlo Stanton hasnt changed his opinion about spacious Marlins Park. He still considers it a pitchers park and dislikes the dimensions. His Miami Marlins teammates are trying mightily to change his mind. The Marlins begin a six-game homestand Tuesday against Philadelphia with a 17-5 home record, best in the majors. In a ballpark considered unfriendly to hitters, Miami is averaging 5.7 runs per game, second-best in the majors at home. Stantons leading the way. He has found the distant fences annoying since the park opened in 2012, but he nonetheless has 31 RBIs at home, the most in the majors. In Miami he has seven homers, a .354 batting average and a 1.166 OPS. However, Stanton still insists the Marlins home is a pitchers park. "It is in terms of power, but this conversation is not relevant," he said with a frown. "I dont want to talk about complaining about the ballpark." That would be unseemly when the Marlins have outscored opponents 125-70 at home. The differential is especially eye-popping because theyve been outscored 114-79 on the road, where their record is 6-17, worst in the majors. They concluded another dismal trip Sunday, going 4-7 and losing ace Jose Fernandez to a season-ending elbow injury. But theyve been the mighty Marlins at home, which is a big change. In their first two seasons at Marlins Park, the home team averaged 3.6 runs per game, third-worst in the majors. But theyve altered their lineup and their approach at the plate. As a result, the Marlins home batting average is .296, second-best in the majors. "Its really extraordinary what theyre doing this year -- a perfect example of how youve got to attack your home field," New York Mets manager Terry Collins said. With the distances to the wall 386 feet in left centre, 398 in right centre and 418 in centre, Marlins hitters have stopped grousing and started driving the ball into the roomy power alleys. They rank among the major-league leaders with 47 doubles and six triples at home. "We knew it was going to be tough to hit home runs," manager Mike Redmond said. "But we talked during spring training about leading the league in doubles and putting balls in the gaps. The field is so big you dont have to hit home runs to do damage. You can hit triples and doubles, and you can go first to third on a single up the middle. You dont have to swing for the fences. You can stay within yourself and still be rewarded." Even Stanton agrees. He has seen a lot of 400-foot flyouts since Marlins Park opened, but he has also watched his team score runs in bunches this year. "Youre not going to win by hitting homers here," Stanton said. "But if you understand that the guy on first is in scoring position, thats going to work to our advantage. On a normal double, here you can score from first standing up a lot of the time. We understand that and are taking advantage of it." The Marlins tailored their lineup to the ballpark last off-season by acquiring left-handed hitter Garrett Jones and switch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Both have homered into the upper deck in right field, where the stands are most reachable. "The easier way to hit home runs in this ballpark is for a left-handed hitter, so we did try to bring in some left-handed power," Redmond said. Miami also signed Casey McGehee, a right-handed hitter who bats mostly cleanup. He has only one homer but is hitting .422 with runners in scoring position. "Theyve done here of using the field to hit all sorts of different ways -- a drag bunt, balls hit up the middle," Collins said. "Youve got to tip your hat that theyve made those adjustments. This is a tough park to hit in. What theyve done is found guys who put the ball in play and are difficult to defence." Other opponents agree, but some also speculate about hidden reasons for the way the Marlins hit in their home park. When Miami scored 23 runs to sweep a three-game series at home against Atlanta last month, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez jokingly wondered if the Marlins had a spy in the outfield tipping their hitters on pitches. "We got in their heads a little bit," Redmond said. Its good to have visiting teams scratching their heads. And for the Marlins, who are above .500 despite their woeful road record, its good to be home. Bouchon Hydro Flask . -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett thinks of one thing when he watches Eastern Conference teams struggle against Western opponents before they get to Phoenix: His team must keep pace. Bouteille Hydro Flask Pas Cher . They find themselves trying to knock each other out in the Western Conference finals for the second straight year. The Blackhawks prevailed last year on their way to the Stanley Cup, and they have the early lead this time after taking the opener, 3-1. http://www.hydroflaskbouteille.fr/ . Torres calmly stroked a 51st-minute spot kick down the middle with goalkeeper Romel Quinonez diving right to convert a penalty earned by Javi Martinez. Spain controlled play at the Sanchez Pizjuan but found it hard to convert against a well-organized Bolivian team before Iniesta charged forward to curl around Quinonez in the 84th to seal victory. Bouchon Hydro Flask Pas Cher . Louis Cardinals won the World Series last season, but after losing first baseman Albert Pujols to free agency and manager Tony LaRussa to retirement, they opened the 2012 season in 12th spot in the TSN. Bouchon Hydro Flask France . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota (5): He was calm, poised, and looked comfortable all game.Roger Federer returned to action with a 6-3 7-5 victory over Alexander Zverev at the Rome Masters but admits he does not know if he will play on Thursday. Having missed out in Madrid last week with a back injury that he has suggested is still troubling him, Federer was on court for the first time since mid-April, having played just one event since the Australian Open following knee surgery.A meeting with one of the Tours brightest prospects in the shape of 19-year-old Zverev was always likely to prove a good test for the 17-time Grand Slam champion ahead of the French Open which starts later this month, and he admits he feared the worse I was expecting to lose in straight sets today, said Federer.That was the mind-set going in, so to win in straights is actually a really big surprise to me. I played cautious, and I only decided after the warm-up that I was actually going to play. Roger Federer won his second round match with Alexander Zverev in straight sets Im happy I was able to play a full match without any setbacks. Im coming off a brutal last few months, and Im just happy to be able to play normal tennis to some extent. So for me, its a big day and huge step in the right direction.Up next for Federer will be 13th seed Dominic Thiem, who beat Portugals Joao Sousa 6-3 6-2 althouggh Federer hinted that he will make another late decision on his participation.ddddddddddddI dont know how Im going to feel tomorrow. I hope so. Im literally going practice after practice. Every 15 minutes I speak to Ivan [Ljubicic] or Severin [Luthi] and say, what else can we do?Its baby steps right now. So to even think of tomorrow is already a big ask. Zverev battled back bravely in the second set despite before losing As far as his match with Zverev was concerned the 34-year was out of the traps impressively, looking strong on his serve and needing just one break of the Germans serve to claim the opening set.Zverev, coming off an impressive run to the semi-finals in Munich last week, fought back from another early break and, having failed to trouble the Federer serve early on, forced break points to level the second set at 4-4.It was to prove in vain though as Federer broke again for a crucial 6-5 lead which he turned into victory with his first and only match point.You can follow all the action from Rome throughout the week on Sky Sports through until Sundays final. Also See: Masters of their trade Wednesday at Rome Masters Tennis on Sky Latest scores ' ' '