Results tagged ‘ Diamondbacks ’
Go… Southeast, Young Man
Sean West gave up five runs in his start Saturday night against the Diamondbacks.
Now, why does that sound so familiar? Perhaps it’s because West also gave up five runs in his last start. And the one before that. And the one before the one before that.
Sean lasted just 4 2/3 innings in game three of the Marlins‘ series in Arizona, a pretty short start by any standard, but certainly long enough to put the Fish in an early hole that they were never able to climb out of.
Sean did attempt to help his own cause when he logged his first Major League hit in the third inning and scored on an RBI by Jorge Cantu. It wasn’t enough, though, and immediately following the game, West was optioned to Double A. I think we can all agree that is a far better place for the working out of growing pains than in the Marlins starting rotation.
While West was reserving his flight to Jacksonville, The Marlins were continuing their struggle to score runs (see: Friday Night’s Game). Who can blame them, though, with the almighty Jon Garland on the mound?
Oh. Right. Garland isn’t all that mighty, and he hadn’t won a game since May 19th. That game, [probably not all that] coincidentally, was against the Marlins as well. But mighty or not, seven hits were all the Fish could manage off of Garland Saturday, and Cantu’s RBI single that scored Sean West accounted for the Marlins only run. (You will be spared a lament on our tough luck with the bats tonight. No “he’s hit it hard, but…” stuff from HLD&S. Even if it’s true. And even if we’d be totally OK with Jeremy Hermida punching somebody in the face right about now.)
Jon Garland isn’t the only Diamondback benefiting from the Marlins new “We Shall Heal What Ails You, MLB” campaign. Justin Upton was one for his last thirty coming into the series, and naturally decided to use the Marlins pitching staff to bust out of his slump. After a two-hit, three-RBI game to open the series, Upton went 4-for-4 with another RBI in Saturday’s game.
If you’re looking for a silver lining on the cloud of this game, we have powered up the microscope… The Marlins bullpen did their thing and held the Diamondbacks scoreless through 3 1/3 innings. Too bad the Marlins lineup was busy holding itself scoreless as well.
While the Fish were losing, the Phillies did what teams are supposed to do when they play clubs like the D-backs and Pirates– they won. The Fish are now 4 games back in the East, and sit just a game over .500.
We’re mulling over an idea for Sunday’s series finale– it involves our starter not coming to the mound and immediately putting the Marlins in a big, fat, gaping hole. Sure, coming back from a 7-run deficit is fun times and all, it’s just probably not going to happen in every game, especially not with the bats freezing up once again. So let’s consider not trying to set up the come-from-behind victory, and instead tackle the get-ahead-and-stay-ahead variety of triumph. Not quite as sexy, no, but it gets the job done.
Reason #678,883,215 to Hate West Coast Road Trips
I knew better than to turn off the TV.
I knew
it, and yet the beckoning of my pillow and binky uh, blanket were far too strong to resist. It
didn’t help that Andrew Miller had been yanked from the game after just 2 2/3 innings, leaving the Fish in a 6-run hole to open their series against the Diamondbacks.
Losing sleep for an exciting
game is one thing. Losing it to watch the Marlins get routed is quite another. Off to bed I went.
And then?
Well, then all… heaven broke
loose. Heaven, as in THE BIGGEST INNING IN MARLINS HISTORY and the biggest comeback of the season. The Fish, who were down 7-0 at one point, scored 10
runs in the eighth inning. The go-ahead run came on a pinch-hit, 3-run shot by Brett
Carroll–the first pinch-hit home run of his career.
And I was asleep.
ASLEEP!
@#$%!
I woke to the news of the Marlins comeback mocking me from my radio, unsure whether to rejoice that they won, or weep bitterly that I missed one of the most exciting innings of all time. I opted for a little of both, but never again will that decision have to be made. Because I don’t intend to miss any more Marlins baseball. Ever.
Tonight, as The Fish get set for game two
against Arizona, I’ll be enjoying a dinner of No Doz, Five Hour Energy
shots and triple espressos, washed down with some Red Bull and perhaps a Monster
Energy drink or two.
Score all the early runs you want, D-Backs,
but I will not be deterred.
I don’t even intend to blink.
You Can’t Spell Burke Heinrich Badenhop without O-U-C-H
It’s a good thing I turned the TV off when Justin Upton stole second in the fifth inning of Thursday night’s series opener between the Marlins and the Diamondbacks. My neighbors probably wouldn’t take too kindly to being jerked from their slumber by bloodcurdling yelps of horror.
Thankfully, I was headed to dreamland when Gerardo Parra’s liner smashed Badenhop in the leg and sent him to the ground, and thus did not have to experience firsthand the bone-chilling fear of a Hopper-less bullpen… or of being physically assaulted by the folks next door.
Seriously. Who else do the Marlins have who can be depended on to come in and mop up a mess the likes of which Andrew Miller left when he exited the game after just 2 2/3 innings?
Exactly.
Thankfully, the x-rays came back negative, and Badenhop is listed as day-to-day. Starters, make a mental note: no flaking out until Hop is good to go.
Happy Birthday to You.
Happy (belated) birthday, Andrew Miller! Thanks for going 7 innings strong against the Diamondbacks last night on your big day. That was swell.
Gee, I hope you enjoyed the bullpen’s gift to you– Cristhian Martinez, who came into the game and erased all of the good you did on one lousy pitch to Mark Reynolds. Nothing says “happy birthday” quite like a blown save. (It was nice to see your teammates all pitch in with sixteen strikeouts, too. I’m sure that was on the top of your birthday wish list as well.)
The icing on the cake? The Marlins just dropped three of four to a team with one of the worst records in baseball, and sink four games under .500.
@#$%!!!!!!
&#%$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
$@%#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This losing business is getting really, really old.
4-3, Diamondbacks.
You Can’t Spell Burke Heinrich Badenhop without BURNED PEN
I guess our boys decided that two games in one night wasn’t quite exhausting enough, so they opted to go for extras yesterday in game two of the doubleheader against Arizona. Around the tenth inning I gave up trying to force my eyelids to stay open, and woke up this morning half expecting the game to still be going on. Instead, I was greeted with news of the Marlins’ the 13-inning loss to the D-Backs. Sweet.
Hayden Penn made his first start for the Fish (and first since 2006) and did his best John Koronka impersonation, lasting just 2 2/3 innings and giving up a 4-0 lead. Enter The Hopper. Badenhop pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Penn, contributed his first major league RBI on a squeeze bunt, and handed over a 3-run lead with one out in the seventh. One can never get too excited about a lead that is less than 17 runs, though– not when Renyel Pinto is just a call to the bullpen away… Enter Renyel, exit ball from park, hello tie game.
Two blown saves from Pinto in two days. That is just really good stuff.
Some other things happened after that, I think, but to be honest the fires of infuriation have incinerated it all from my memory. I don’t know if it was caused by our criminally overworked bullpen being trotted out one by one as lambs to the slaughter, our inability to do anything but ground into double plays in bases-loaded, no out situations, or Justin Upton and his insistence on hitting home runs in every at-bat. But I do know that the game lasted almost five hours, and that the Marlins were forced to use everything that wasn’t nailed to the bullpen to pitch in the 13-inning affair.
Four relievers that had already put in a night’s work during game one had to be called on once again in the second game of the night, which puts us in an incredibly awesome situation this evening as Andrew Miller takes the mound. You know, seeing as he normally doesn’t like to toss more than five innings, and our relievers threw about 80 pitches apiece yesterday.
Memo to Miller: Cody Ross is the only arm that’s available until Memorial Day. I hope that fact is enough to scare a quality start out of you. we need a complete game, Andrew. But we’ll settle for 7+ innings. Pretty please. (And happy birthday.)
EDIT: from Juan Rodriguez via Twitter: Marlins recall LHP David Davidson, select RHP Cristhian Martinez, option OF Alejandro De Aza, DL Alfredo Amezaga.
You are all doing just a real fine job.
I’m going to try something new on this here blog. It’s a little something I like to call positive reinforcement. (Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it before. It’s a relatively new concept.) I guess I could spend the next 80 paragraphs berating the Marlins for yesterday’s loss to the D-backs–their seventh loss in the last eight games–but that isn’t exactly thinking outside the box for HLD&S. And since desperate times call for a raiding of grandma’s prescription drug stash desperate measures… positivity, here I come.
*ahem*
You are all doing just a real fine job. Especially you, Bonifacio. I know you had an 0-for-4 night and committed that error that helped Arizona put up a five spot in the seventh which led to them winning and us losing, but hey! Look at you go with that walk there. That was some fine effort to draw that base on balls. Good job little buddy.
Uggs, you had an RBI hit last night! That’s almost as rare as seeing a shooting star or finding a four-leaf clover these days! Plus, I read in a very reputable baseball publication recently that .192 is the new .300 (and that striking out with runners in scoring position and only one out is the new RBI hit or sacrifice).
Hermida, you might be feeling down after an 0-for-4 night in which you killed our one hope of a rally, but the good news is, you were NUMBER ONE on the team at leaving men on base! Better than anybody else at stranding runners! Go you.
And Renyel, sure you came into the game and blew the lead for Josh Johnson and the Marlins by pitching real bad not pitching to the fullest of your highly impressive ability, but, uh……………………………………………………………………………………………………. …………………………………….. it didn’t rain at all while you were on the mound!
Josh, Cody, Jorge and Hanley, it may seem your efforts last night were in vain, but it was nice to have a few things to cheer about before the inevitable. Thanks for those few heartwarming moments before our hopes of a victory were once again dashed.
As for me, I am no longer looking at this as a “rough patch.” I’m choosing to see it as a “strengthening of our team’s character” patch. Instead of focusing on the fact that the Fish are now three games under .500, I choose to rejoice that we’re 18 games above .000! Things could be worse. (But, you know, feel free to not let us experience that firsthand.)
marlinkelly
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