LEFTOVERS: Marlins feel shortchanged by Red Sox

The Miami Marlins were reportedly “outraged” when the Boston Red Sox fielded a team comprised mostly of minor leaguers in Thursday’s spring training game in Jupiter, Fla.

The Red Sox’s lineup included only two players with big league experience: outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. (95 at-bats) and catcher Ryan Lavarnway (269 at-bats).

Miami, which charged “super premium” ticket prices ($10 to $12 more per person) for the game against the defending World Series champions, planned to contact the league office to complain, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Major League Baseball spring training regulations require teams to field a minimum of four players who were either regulars on the previous year’s big league team or have a reasonable chance to be regulars during the upcoming season.

Boston general manager Ben Cherington apologized to the Marlins via email during the game — which ended in a rain-shortened scoreless tie — but they didn’t appear to accept it.

“We got an email from their GM saying they had some injuries and were working on some things,” said Mike Hill, Miami’s president of baseball operations. “He apologized, so I don’t know if that meant he got a call from the league or what.”

Hill might want to consider apologizing to Marlins fans, who long have been outraged that Miami barely fields any big leaguers during the regular season.

■ SALTY LANGUAGE — The most prominent member of the 2013 Red Sox at Thursday’s Boston-Miami exhibition was Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who playfully channelled his inner Ian Kinsler before the game.

“I hope they go 0-162,” he said, jokingly, about the Red Sox. “Now they’re all sleazeballs.”

Saltalamacchia, who signed a $21 million, three-year contract with Miami in the offseason, was referencing recent comments made by Kinsler — his former Texas Rangers teammate — in an ESPN The Magazine story.

In the article, Kinsler said he hoped the Rangers went “0-162” and called Texas general manager Jon Daniels a “sleazeball.”

Daniels traded Kinsler — who said his comments were “taken a little bit out of context” — to the Detroit Tigers in the offseason.

■ LEBRON BLAMES — Not exactly channelling his inner Willis Reed or Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game,” LeBron James blamed his jersey for his poor shooting performance Thursday in the Miami Heat’s 111-87 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

James made only 6 of 18 shots while wearing the NBA’s alternate, short-sleeved jersey, which he said wreaked havoc with his game.

“I’m not making any excuses, but I’m not a big fan of the jerseys,” he said.

Sounds like an excuse to us.

“I have to figure something out the next time I have to wear the short-sleeve jerseys,” James said. “Every time I shoot, it feels like it’s just pulling right up underneath my arm.”

This explains why our shot has been off for years in our weekly pickup game.

For the record, the short-sleeved jerseys didn’t adversely affect Miami’s Chris Bosh, who managed to sink 10 of 16 shots.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY/ LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL