Behind Robertson, Hopper, Fish Take the Citi
GameFish is now blogging regularly for FishStripes. Read her game recaps and thoughts on the 2010 Marlins season there.
___________________________________________________________________________
The Marlins were going for the series win against the Mets Thursday night at Citi Field, and after two straight games of ugly, fans were hoping for a nice, neat, disaster-free win. You know, one that didn’t induce massive strokes and brain hemorrhages and stuff.
It was a battle of lefties as Nate Robertson made the start vs. Jon Niese, and Robertson had a decent night in his season debut for the Marlins. He went five innings and allowed just one run on an RBI double to Jeff Francoeur in the fourth. Nate threw 94 pitches and gave up six hits, struck out four and didn’t issue a walk.
Neise lasted six innings against the Marlins, and gave up three runs on eight hits. The Fish grabbed an early lead in the first on an RBI single from Dan Uggla, and RBI doubles by Jorge Cantu and Gaby Sanchez in the fifth and sixth gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead.
Once Nate’s night was over, heartrates state-wide skyrocketed as it was time to go to the bullpen. Wednesday’s implosion was still fresh in the minds of Fish fans, and this time the pen had just a 2-run lead to work with, as opposed to the six-run lead the pen blew the night before.
Mommy. Hold me.
Luckily, it was Burke Badenhop who got the call. The Hopper decided to go against the recent trend of Marlins middle relievers, and so, rather than walking multiple guys and blowing the lead, Hop tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Robertson. He allowed just one hit and struck out two.
If Fredi had put it to a vote, the majority of Fish fans would probably have been in favor of letting Burke attempt a 4-inning save. But instead, though he tossed 40 pitches in Wednesday’s fiasco, Leo Nunez came out to pitch the ninth. (Insert lame comment about getting back on the horse or whatever here.)
Leo must have been inspired by The Hopper’s three scoreless innings, because he made quick work of things, recording the save with a 1-2-3 inning.
I’m not sure how the post-game pep talk went on Wednesday night, but whatever it was, it worked. Because after issuing nine free passes in Wednesday’s game, the Marlins pitchers didn’t allow a single base on balls in the series finale.
The Fish have taken their first series of 2010, and are headed home.
Marlins 3, Mets 1
Save the Game, Wood You?
GameFish is now blogging regularly for FishStripes. You can check out her game recaps and thoughts on the 2010 Marlins there.
___________________________________________________________________________
It’s not every day a pitching staff coughs up a 6-1 lead, walks nine, balks in a run, and still walks away with a victory.
Apparently Wednesday was not every day.
The Marlins were back in action at Citi Field for game two of their series with the Mets, and after the disaster also referred to as Opening Day, I think the goal in mind for almost everyone on the team was “do the opposite of what I did on Monday.”
That strategy worked through six innings.
The Marlins lineup fared much better against John Maine than they did against Johan Santana. They tagged him for four runs in five innings, and between Maine and the Mets bullpen, the rest of the bats came out of hibernation.
Cantu was the first Fish to drive in a run this season, and he also became the first to go deep, homering off of Maine in the third inning. Hanley and Uggla added solo shots of their own, and every Marlins position player had at least one hit in the game.
In his first start of 2010, Ricky was “splendid” (to borrow Rich Waltz’s favorite adjective), and allowed three runs on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 5 Mets. It was also encouraging, after a rough go of things Monday, to see the Fish fielding their positions a little more neatly than they did on Opening day.
Things were going charmingly well, the season opener was being chalked up to rust and jitters, and with a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, most fans had penciled in a “W” for Ricky and the Fish.
And then the rest of the game happened.
Ricky ran out of gas in the seventh. He walked off the mound with one on, two out, and a comfortable four-run lead, and thus the game became one giant blur of badness.
Renyel Pinto came in for Ricky, but rather than record the final out of the inning, he gave up a hit, struck a batter to load up the bases, and then walked in a run before he was replaced by Jose Veras.
Veras didn’t fare much better than Pinto on the mound. His very first pitch was a wild, high fastball that got away from Baker and very nearly allowed a run to score. He managed to escape the seventh inning without allowing a run, but in the eighth Jose gave up two hits, walked two, and was tagged with three runs.
Then it was Leo Nunez who came in with two out in the 8th to attempt a 4-out save of the game, but what he accomplished instead was to walk two batters, balk in the tying run, and blow the save.
The defense also seemed to take its cue from the relievers, and got sloppy again after Ricky left the game. Uggla committed a throwing error trying to turn a double play, and Chris Coghlan inexplicably airmailed a throw to home plate that could have produced disastrous results.
By all accounts the Fish deserved to lose the game. But in the top of the 10th against Takahashi, Wes Helms singled, a sac bunt from Cogz moved him to second, and Ronny Paulino drove in Uncle Wes with a pinch hit single to reclaim the lead for the Fish.
With only a one-run lead to work with, Tim Wood did what our closer could not– he came into the game and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, and recorded the very first save of his Major League career to even the Marlins record, and the series.
Whew.
Pat yourselves on the back, Fish fans. You’ve just survived your very first bullpen implosion of the season.
Marlins 7, Mets 6
Opening Day 2010 (aka Whoa, Ugly)
GameFish is now blogging regularly for FishStripes, so you can check out her game recaps and thoughts on the 2010 Florida Marlins there.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Ah, sweet Opening Day. Is there anything better? Sun shining brightly, birds chirping gleefully, the smell of peanuts and cracker jack wafting through the fresh spring air… or at least that’s what you’d imagine opening day to be like, if you weren’t stuck in a cubicle at your place of employment, reloading Gameday audio 12,042 times while simultaneously researching where to purchase an atomic bomb with which to obliterate MLB.tv tech support.
[Deep cleansing breath.]
Luckily, when the Marlins opened their season against the Mets at Citi Field Monday, they gave us Fish fans a few reasons to be glad that it’s hard to find a way to be in front of a television at 1:10 in the afternoon. Sure, it promised to be a good match-up with Marlins ace Josh Johnson starting against Johan Santana, but things didn’t exactly unfold that way. (Not that I saw how any of it did unfold, but I got to watch those little cartoon-y figures on MLB Gameday, which we all know is practically the same as being there live.)
JJ lasted just five innings in his season debut, and gave up four runs on five hits, walked four, and put the Marlins in an early hole on a two-run shot to David Wright in the bottom of the first.
The Fish, meanwhile, couldn’t get much of anything accomplished against Santana, who–despite the many hopes of every non-Mets fan in existence–did not miraculously forget how to pitch during the off-season. (I, for one, intend to return my voodoo dolls to the manufacturer for a full refund of the purchase price, less shipping and handling.)
The Marlins managed a meager four hits off of Santana in his six innings of work. They finally got on the board in the sixth on an RBI double by Jorge Cantu that scored Chris Coghlan, but that was the last of the good news for Florida.
Things got sloppy for the Marlins as the bullpen took over in the sixth. The Mets scored four times, and Clay Hensley, Dan Meyer and Gaby Sanchez all committed errors in the half inning. Hensley–whose current ERA is 27.00, which is fun to say–gave up two runs to the Mets in his Marlins debut, and Tim Wood allowed a run in the seventh to make the score 7-1.
Aside from 2-for-4 afternoons from Hanley and Gaby, it was a sloppy, forgettable game that definitely didn’t leave Fish fans with warm, fuzzy feelings to kick off the regular season.
The good news is, we get to try this 161 more times.
Marlins 1, Mets 7
Peace Out, Alejandro
Joe Frisaro, et. al. report that the White Sox claimed outfielder Alejandro De Aza off waivers today:
“The White Sox on Wednesday claimed De Aza off waivers.
At Triple-A New Orleans, De Aza batted .300 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs. He also appeared in 22 games for the Marlins, and he had 20 at-bats, batting .250 with a double and three RBIs…
The Marlins are projecting Cameron Maybin will be their Opening Day center fielder. The team also has Rookie of the Year candidate Chris Coghlan in left field.”
And let’s not forget about another possible beneficiary of the dearly departed De Aza: one Brett Carroll, who at the very least must grin inwardly any time there is news of the trimming down of the Marlins’ plethora of outfielders.
It would have been nice to see what De Aza was capable of had he not managed to mangle himself each and very time he was given an opportunity to play. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Hopefully he has better luck in Chicago.
The End.
In the final game recap of the 2009 season, it would be superb to declare that the Marlins finally managed to hold onto one of the half-dozen or so leads they had in the game, and pull out the victory to end the year with a bang.
But unless we just ignore the box score and make up our own magical fairy tale of a season finale, the news is not all that thrilling.
Both Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu were out of Sunday’s lineup due to injuries. The Phil’s lineup was also void of Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, who are clearly in need of much beauty rest, and had the day off.
In what became sort of a late season tradition, the Marlins put two runs on the board in the first inning. Coghlan wasted no time securing last-minute NL ROY votes as he led off the game with a single, advanced to third on Cameron Maybin’s double, and scored on a sac fly from Nick Johnson. With two out, Ronny Paulino doubled in Maybin to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
Josh Johnson was on the hill in his final start of 2009 and looked good through the first three innings. In the fourth, though, Josh gave up two runs to tie up the game. Miguel Cairo homered to lead off the inning, and Jayson worth followed with a hit, stole second and third, and scored on Ben Francisco’s single.
The Fish reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out. JJ and Nick Johnson walked, and Coghlan singled to load them for Wes Helms, who drove in two on a single to right field. Dan Uggla followed with an RBI single, and the Marlins were back in the lead at 5-3.
For about ten minutes.
In the bottom of the inning, JJ got into trouble and erased the Marlins lead yet again. Andy Tracy tripled and scored on a single by Eric Bruntlett, and Victorino and Dobbs both followed with RBI hits to once again tie the score.
JJ’s afternoon and season were over with two out in the fifth, after he gave up five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3. He finished the season 15-5.
It didn’t take long for the Marlins to once again nab the lead. Chris Coghlan, who finished the game 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored (and an even stronger case for the NL Rookie of the Year award), grounded into a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning to score Emilio Bonifacio and put the Marlins up 6-5.
After two scoreless innings from Burke Badenhop, Ross Gload pinch hit for Hop in the top of the eighth and singled, giving him 21 pinch-hits on the year. With the single, Ross Gload and Wes Helms became the second pair of teammates since 1900 to have 38 pinch hits.
In the bottom of the eighth, it was time for another Marlins lead-relinquish. Miguel Cairo tripled off of Kiko Calero to open the inning, and scored on a throwing error by Dan Uggla to yet again tie the game.
The Marlins didn’t appear to be ready to let go of the season, and so Renyel Pinto tossed a scoreless ninth to force extra innings. But in the bottom of the tenth, Florida’s luck ran out. Dan Meyer gave up a single to Mayberry to lead off the inning, and after an intentional walk to Jayson Werth, Paul Hoover lined a single to score Mayberry and end the game.
The Marlins finish the season 87 and 75, in second place in the NL East, and surrounded by rumors of the possible removal of Fredi Gonzalez, who led the Fish this season to their third-most wins in the history of the franchise.
Ah, the joys of Marlins baseball.
Fish <3 Fox Saturday
On the very last Saturday afternoon of the regular season, Fox finally decided to grace us with a game that featured the Marlins. Boy, the national exposure couldn’t have come at a better time…you know, after the Phillies clinched the NL East, and after the Marlins had been eliminated from the Wild Card.
But we won’t complain too much, because a Fox Saturday game appears to be just what Hanley Ramirez needed to emerge from his recent slump. Come on, we all know what a fan Hanley is of the big stage, and after getting Friday night off, he wasted no time busting out of his 0-for-11 skid on national TV.
In his first at bat, Ramirez doubled off of Cole Hamels to drive in Coghlan, stole third, and then scored on a sac fly from Jorge Cantu. The sacrifice was Cantu’s his 100th RBI of the season, and put the Marlins up 2-0.
Unfortunately for Hanley and Cantu, they wouldn’t last the game. In the fourth inning Hanley left with a knee contusion, and Cantu followed shortly after with a sprained ankle. Hanley is questionable for the series finale, but Cantu’s season ended when he was doubled off in the sixth.
Anibal Sanchez also seemed to be a fan of the national exposure. Or maybe he just wanted to keep up the Jekyl and Hyde routine he’s had going of late. Whichever is the case, Sanchez put in a strong performance against the Phillies. And unlike his 8-walk start earlier in the week, he was actually able to locate the strike zone Saturday. Sanchy went seven innings, and allowed only one run on five hits and two walks. The one run he gave up was naturally another *yawn* Ryan Howard home run– his 45th of the season.
In the second inning the Fish scored a third run off of Hamels on an RBI double by [NL ROY] Chris Coghlan. Three innings and 47 pitches were all the Phillies allowed Hamels, who was pulled after giving up three runs on three hits and two walks.
The Marlins added what would prove to be a very valuable insurance run in the eighth on an RBI double by Uggla. And it was nice of Dan to drive in the extra run, because he was a big part of the reason the Fish ended up needing it. Uggla’s throwing error in the bottom of the eighth allowed Ryan Howard to reach base before Brian Sanches gave up a home run to Jayson Werth that brought the Phillies within a run.
Brad Lidge was surprisingly not in the mood to give up any runs in the ninth, so it was up to Leo Nunez to save the game with just a one-run lead. With the help of a nice defensive play from Uggla (which partially redeemed him for his costly eighth inning error) Leo handled the Phillies one-two-three for his 26th save of the season.
With their fourth win in a row, the Marlins improved to 13 games over .500 and took over sole possession of second place in the NL East. The win also made Fredi Gonzalez the winningest manager in Fish history.
Hurk + Jorge = W
Who says the Marlins are playing meaningless baseball?
It was the beginning of the end (pause to weep bitterly) as the Fish and the Phils opened their final series of the regular season Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
With the Marlins fighting the Braves for second place in the East, and the Phillies trying to secure home field advantage in the post-season, the Fish had plenty to play for despite being eliminated from the playoffs.
Hanley–in a slump the last few weeks, and hitless in his last 11 ABs–got the night off, but a strong start from Rick VandenHurk and the bats of Jorge Cantu and Cameron Maybin were all the Fish needed to nab their 86th win of the season.
With Joe Blanton on the mound, the Marlins got on the board in the first inning thanks to a two-run single from Jorge Cantu. But the Phils answered right back in the bottom of the first when Ryan Howard went deep off of Rick VandenHurk to tie up the game at two apiece.
Despite the early home run, Hurk made his last start of the season a good one. He allowed five hits through six solid innings, and after the long ball in the first, Hurk didn’t give up another run to the Phillies.
Once Howard tied the game, the Marlins wasted no time answering back. In the top of the second, Emilio Bonifacio singled, and back-to-back RBI doubles by Cameron Maybin and Chris Coghlan gave the Marlins a 4-2 lead.
In the seventh, the Marlins loaded the bases with nobody out, but only managed to push one run across the plate on an RBI from Dan Uggla. Joe Blanton was done after he faced one batter in the seventh, and finished the night with five earned runs on nine hits through six innings.
The Marlins added on again in the eighth inning when Cantu drove in his 99th run of the season on a sac fly, and John Baker hit an RBI single to give the Marlins a five-run advantage.
Jorge Cantu continued his RBI tear and drove in three of the Marlins seven runs in the game. Cantu, who drove in 25 in the month of Setember, sits just one RBI away from the century mark with two games left to play. Cameron Maybin also impressed Friday, batting second and going 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored.
With the win, the Marlins improved to 86-74, and are tied with the Braves for second place in the NL East. They also diminished the Phillies chances of home field advantage in the post-season.
Meaningless, schmeaningless.
Ask and you shall receive…
HLD&S would like to think that all the drama in Wednesday’s Marlins-Braves series finale was a response to Monday’s lament about making the last few games of the season a bit more thrilling than watching paint dry. But whether or not that was the case, the rubber match at Turner Field was one exciting game to witness.
Despite the bats showing up for the second night in a row, the real show Wednesday was Ricky Nolasco. In his final start of 2009, Ricky pitched like a man possessed, striking out batter after batter after batter.
At one point, Nolasco struck out the side in three consecutive innings (third, fourth and fifth), becoming just the fourth pitcher in history to do so. The nine straight K’s were also one short of the Major League record.
Against Javier Vazquez, the Marlins provided some run support for the dealing Nolasco, and scored three times in the second inning. Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla both hit RBI singles, and a wild pitch scored a run to give the Fish a 3-0 lead. Ross Gload went deep off of Vazquez in the fifth, hitting a two-run shot to put the Marlins up 5-0.
The Braves finally got on the board against Ricky with two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh. With two out, Garret Anderson singled and Yunel Escobar reached on an error by Hanley. Adam LaRoche drove in both runs with an RBI single, and erased the shutout of Atlanta.
Ricky recorded his sixteenth strikeout of the game in the eight inning, and his night was done after 7 2/3 innings and 123 pitches. Ricky gave up four hits, two unearned runs, and recorded a career high 16 strikeouts in the start. The K-fest set a franchise record for most strikeouts in a game, and Ricky also plowed through his career high for strikeouts in a season, ending 2009 with 195.
As if Ricky’s display wasn’t excitement enough, the Marlins generously gave us a nail-biter of a ninth inning, where–to quote Nolasco in the understatement of the week–”it got a little interesting.”
Leo Nunez walked Brian McCann to lead off the bottom of the ninth, a botched double play and error by Jorge Cantu advanced McCann to third base, and Yunel Escobar singled to drive in the run. With one out, Wes Helms committed the second error of the inning on a throw to first that ended up in the dirt and allowed Matt Diaz to reach. Omar Infante added a pinch hit RBI single to bring the Braves within a run.
After the performance of a lifetime, Ricky Nolasco was getting dangerously close to a no-decision. Leo walked Nate McClouth to load the bases, and the call to the bullpen brought out veteran Brendan Donnelly.
Donnelly’s very first pitch in the game got by Ronny Paulino, and Matt Diaz started for home. He retreated as Paulino got to the ball, but couldn’t get back to third before the catcher picked him off for the final out of the game.
With that out, Donnelly got his second save for the Fish, and Ricky Nolasco won his 13th game of the season.
While HLD&S is appreciative of the Marlins attempts at entertaining us in the last few days of 2009, we could do without the cardiac arrest. And seeing as all four of Atlanta’s runs were unearned, we could also do without the sloppy defense.
But now we’re just nit-picking.
Though it’s true that nothing can compare to the feeling of one’s own team making it to the post-season, essentially taking the chance away from a division rival is kinda fun too.
The Scoreless Streak Ends! But, Um, So Do Our Post-Season Hopes.
It took a starting pitcher to end the Marlins’ streak of scoreless innings at 22, but the bats finally came out of hibernation Tuesday night at Turner Field.
In the second inning Josh Johnson said, “enough of this scoreless business,” and did what the Fish have struggled to do the last few games: he hit with a runner in scoring position. (!)
Johnson drove in his 10th run of the season, doubling off of Braves starter Tim Hudson, and opened the proverbial floodgates for the Marlins. Dan Uggla, who also doubled and scored a run in the second, followed with a solo shot in the fourth inning, and Cameron Maybin added a 2-run homer in the fifth to give the Marlins a 4-1 lead. (OK, so the floodgates were more cracked slightly than fully opened. But we’ll take it.)
Still not 100% recovered from the flu, Josh worked five solid innings for the Fish. He had to work his way out of some trouble, but JJ allowed just one run on three hits to the Braves, and struck out five. With the start, JJ also surpassed 200 innings pitched for the first time in his career, and left the game with a 4-1 lead, in line for the win.
In the bottom of the sixth, Brian Sanches erased the decision for Josh when he gave up a three-run shot to Matt Diaz that tied up the game.
The good news is that Jorge Cantu decided to continue the all-new trend of driving in runs rather than leaving them on base, and reclaimed the lead for the Marlins in the seventh when he hit an RBI single to score [the clear choice for NL Rookie of the Year] Chris Coghlan. Cogs was 3-for-4 in the game with a pair of doubles, a pair of runs, and his 46th hit in the month of September, which established a new team record.
Leo Nunez capped off the game with his 25th save of the season, and the Marlins took game two of the series.
And now for the bad news. The Rockies declined to be of any help to the Fish, and selfishly came back to win their game against the Brewers in extra innings, thus eliminating the Marlins from Wild Card contention.
Wake me when this is over.
The Marlins began their series with Atlanta Monday night at Turner Field, and were looking to bounce back from being shut out by the Mets and eliminated in the NL East Sunday afternoon.
Sadly, someone forgot to alert Anibal Sanchez and the Marlins bats as to the whole “bounce back” strategy.
Coming off of his gorgeous eight-inning shutout last week, Anibal did a complete about-face against Atlanta. He only allowed two hits and three runs to the Braves, but to say Sanchez “struggled” with his control would be putting it as mildly as possible. To struggle with control, there has to actually be a small amount of control with which to struggle. Ani walked a career high eight batters in the game, including three walks in the first inning to load the bases with no one out. McCann grounded out to score a run, and a fly ball from Garret Anderson put the Braves up 2-0.
Ani settled in slightly after the first, and allowed just one more run courtesy of a solo homer to Chipper Jones in the third inning. He managed to last five innings for the Marlins, which may be close to miraculous, considering the trouble he had commanding his pitches. But, at the risk of sounding like a broken record (see yesterday’s recap), the game was already over. The Marlins were blanked, again, so Sanchez could have struck out fifteen and allowed just the solo shot to Chipper, and he still would have been tagged with the loss.
Jair Jurrjens allowed five hits and one walk through his seven innings of work, and once again the Fish couldn’t get a run to cross the plate. There were opportunities, but any and all attempts to capitalize on said opportunities were met with failure. In the seventh inning, the Marlins had runners at the corners with no outs, and once again could not bring a single runner home.
As previously discussed, scoring runs is generally a requirement for winning ball games, and so the Marlins dropped their second straight, and reduced their wild card elimination number to one.
It’s not as though all of HLD&S’s post-season hopes were dashed Monday night. Forget the post-season. Right now we are lamenting the fact that this is our last week to watch Marlins baseball for another six months, and the Fish are making it about as exciting as watching dust gather on great-grandma’s porcelain doll collection.
marlinkelly
Recent Comments