Archive for the 'Post game' Category

I feel like everytime I make a post game here, the Marlins lose a few more games than they need to, so I don’t want to make too big a deal here. Get in, get out, hope no one notices and the team keeps going (and hope nobody notices that this is mostly just an excuse for me to go to sleep soon because school is just killing me. Oh, hush!)

Josh Johnson showed why he’s one of the top starters in the majors on Wednesday.

Even without his best stuff, the right-hander was good enough to shut down the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cody Ross had three hits and drove in two runs for Florida, which has won 10 of 14 to stay in the playoff race. Ross extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest current streak in the NL, and was 5 for 12 in the series.

• Playoff Race

Florida (78-68) moved within four games of wild card-leading Colorado, which was at San Francisco on Wednesday night.

“This is a resilient team,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “They forget bad losses quickly and go on to the next game.”

Johnson (15-4) gave up nine hits but allowed just one run in his 23rd quality start of the season. He struck out five and walked none, improving to 3-1 with a 3.14 ERA in his last five starts.

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“They made good contact with the ball,” Johnson said. “I’d throw good pitches and they’d get hits. It was one of those days where I didn’t walk anybody. That was huge for me today.”

The Cardinals rallied in the ninth. Jason LaRue walked with one out and Mark DeRosa followed with a double to left. Gonzalez then replaced Brian Sanches with closer Leo Nunez, whose wildness got the Marlins into more trouble.

Nunez hit Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols to force in a run before coaxing Matt Holliday into a game-ending double play for his 22nd save in 28 opportunities.

“I really focused on throwing the fastball low and away,” said Nunez, who had hit only two batters in his previous 68 innings. “I just wanted to get the ground ball and I got it.”

Central-leading St. Louis fell to 1-5 on its nine-game homestand and lost back-to-back series for the first time since June 22-28 against the New York Mets and Minnesota.

Joel Pineiro (14-11) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings for St. Louis.

Eight of Florida’s first 10 batters reached safely. John Baker and Ross had RBI singles and Dan Uggla also drove in a run in the first with a fielder’s choice.

Johnson helped himself in the second, leading off with an infield single before eventually coming home on Jorge Cantu’s sacrifice fly.

Julio Lugo had an RBI single in the sixth for St. Louis, which has scored two or fewer runs in four of its last five losses.

“I’m not worried at all about our offense,” St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said. “Good pitching stops good hitting. I really like this club we have.”

I was at work, so I didn’t get to watch it, but I’m bummed Maybin’s slowed down recently. Nice to see JJ pitched well despite not having his best stuff according to the story.
I followed it online and when Pujols came up with the bases juiced down by 4 in the bottom of the ninth, I almost knew what was coming. Hitting him might have been the best thing Nunez has done in weeks.

Josh Johnson wins the award, but like I said, don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to ruin the winning mood.

Cody Ross slumped into a cozy chair in the visiting clubhouse and, with many of his Florida teammates, watched the ninth inning of the NL East-leading Philadelphia’s game.

No matter the first bus back to the hotel was leaving in 20 minutes, the Marlins are in a playoff race. And boy, is it fun.

Ross hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning, Ricky Nolasco shut down the Mets into the seventh and the bargain-basement Marlins kept pace in the division with a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look up there after every out in every inning. I just look up there and see what’s going on,” Ross said of scoreboard watching. “I know [the Phillies] tied it up, that they were up by two, and I knew right before we made the final out they were up by one. I mean you got a lot of time on your hands in the outfield.

“All that doesn’t matter if we’re not doing our own business,” he said before tuning into the end of the Phillies’ 6-5 win that kept their six-game lead in the division in tact.

Dan Uggla homered and Nick Johnson had a long RBI double as Florida, with a majors-low $37 million payroll, took their second straight from New York.

The past two Septembers, Florida played a big role in the Mets’ late-season collapses. This season, the Marlins are chasing a playoff spot. They entered Wednesday 5½ games behind Colorado in the wild-card race.

“It’s completely different, but I think we take it the same no matter what situation we’re in,” Nolasco said. “We’re just fortunate we’re in a situation to make the playoffs.”

Well, they’ve still got a chance at the playoffs, but it seems like every time the Marlins win, so do the teams in front of them. At this point, with 6 games remaining against them, the Marlins have to be looking at the Phillies more, especially with how awful their offense has been recently. It’s a long shot, but the season’s not dead by a long shot either.

It would be something if they could go into that final series against the Phillies within 3 games or so. That would be some absolute excellent drama. Not that anyone would notice, of course.

For battling his demons (the Mets, who have given him a lot of trouble in his career), it’s gotta be Ricky. A 6+ inning start is rare these days, so you take what you can get, and Ricky was practically a workhorse today compared to recent performances. Thanks, Enrique!

The Marlins reached 11 hits, and had the benefit of two unearned runs, but they still lost ground in the standings.

Brian McCann tied a career high with five RBIs, including a tie-breaking two-run single in the eighth inning, to rally the Braves to a 7-5 win over the Marlins on Sunday afternoon in front of 30,478 at Turner Field.

The loss dropped the Marlins into third place in the National League East, one game behind the Braves and 7 1/2 in back of the Phillies with 38 games remaining.

Matt Diaz added four hits and he was a home run shy of the cycle. After taking the first game of the series on Friday night, the Marlins dropped the next two, finishing up a 2-4 road trip.

A day after having his career-high 16-game hitting streak snapped, Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-4, raising his NL-leading batting average to .361. But Jorge Cantu had his 11-game hit streak snapped on a hard-luck afternoon.

A pivotal play came in the eighth inning, after Ramirez led off with a bunt single, Cantu ripped a hard liner right at shortstop Yunel Escobar, who doubled up Ramirez at first with the score even at 5.

It was a struggle for right-hander Ricky Nolasco over 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander scattered nine hits, walked three, struck out four and threw 95 pitches.

Atlanta’s Derek Lowe gave up five runs, with three earned, in five innings.

Nolasco started off the road trip with a complete-game, three-hit, 6-2 win at Houston last Tuesday. In the remaining five games of the trip, four times a Florida starter was unable to pitch at least five full innings.

The Braves snapped the tie in the eighth. Kiko Calero, who gave up a run in the seventh, walked Omar Infante to begin the inning. Renyel Pinto replaced Calero and walked Kelly Johnson. Chipper Jones’ grounder advanced both runners into scoring position. With the infield in, McCann smacked a two-run single to right.

Ricky Nolasco struggled early, but the offense let him leave with a lead. Unfortunately, once Cristhian Martinez’s 1.1 innings were done, the rest of the pen decided they didn’t want to win the game, and Kiko Calero and Renyel Pinto both struggled with their control and gave away the game.

Hanley had another 3 hit game, and Chris Coghlan continued to be amazing at the top of the order, getting on base 3 times. Dan Uggla and Cody Ross also added two hit games, and the offense as a whole was pretty good. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get the big hit as the game progressed, and the bullpen just couldn’t hold it.

Maybe a little overuse for Kiko and Pinto? Pinto has pitched in 13 games in August alone. He’s got terrible control as it is, but being overused can’t help it.

Still…

Today’s “winner” is…

Being tired doesn’t get you out of the Scott Olsen Mugshot Memorial Award, Renyel.

Playoff chances are not looking good now. They weren’t ever too great (though I had my hopes), but now they look pretty slim. Gotta take care of things at home in the next few series, and losing another series will just about end the season.

We need Nick Johnson and Jorge Cantu back in the everyday lineup, please.

Ricky Nolasco struck out 10 in his second complete game of the season and the Florida Marlins had 10 hits for the 14th consecutive game in a 6-2 win Tuesday night over the Houston Astros.

Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Jeremy Hermida hit solo homers for the Marlins, who’ve won nine of 11.

Florida’s streak of 10-hit games is the longest since the 1937 St. Louis Browns reached the total in 15 straight, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Nolasco (9-8) retired 23 in a row after Carlos Lee’s two-run homer in the first inning. He threw 115 pitches to complete the fifth complete game by a Marlins’ pitcher this season.

The Astros lost for the sixth time in eight games after trading catcher Ivan Rodriguez to Texas earlier in the day.

Rookie Bud Norris (3-1) gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings to lose for the first time in four major-league starts.

Nolasco cruised after a shaky first inning.

Lance Berkman doubled off the center-field wall before Lee homered to left on the first pitch he saw. Lee has hit seven home runs with 27 RBIs in his last 28 games.

Hanley Ramirez led off the fourth with a single to left and later scored on John Baker’s sacrifice fly. Uggla then tied it with a solo homer to right, his 22nd of the season.

Lee drove a 2-1 pitch to the wall in left-center in the Houston fourth, but Cody Ross caught it on the warning track. Nolasco struck out Geoff Blum to end the inning, then fanned Hunter Pence and Chris Coste in the fifth.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch this game, as I was entertaining visitors from out of town, but I did receive this text message at 10:37 from my friend Eric, so I figured it went well:

<3 Ricky

So, yeah. Ricky is the CCHOTG. That’s pretty easy. He gave up two loud hits, a double and a home run, in the first inning, and didn’t let anything else happen after that.

Oh, Ricky. You so fine.

The offense picked up 10 hits or more for the 14th game, the longest such streak since the 1937 St Louis Browns, and are now 18 for their last 26, a .690 winning percentage. Hanley is just other worldly at this point, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Cardinals have early 2000′s Barry Bonds playing first base, he’d be a no doubt MVP candidate. As it is, Hanley and his NL leading .360 (!!!!!!) batting average will probably have to settle for second. Though as his OPS creeps toward 1.000, Pujols’ season is looking less and less like a slam dunk.

As a side note, we’re on the verge of seeing 3 of the all time great seasons ever, with Joe Mauer currently leading the AL in batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage, Hanley putting up one of the most incredible seasons a SS has ever had, and Albert Pujols currently looking at the highest single season OPS since Barry Bonds in 04.
Jeremy Hermida also had 3 hits today including a home run, and Dan Uggla continued his recent good play with a home run. Jorge Cantu also added one. All of a sudden, the Marlins have 6 every day players hitting .270, and even Hermida has quietly bumped his average up to .262 and has actually hit .290 over his last 28 games, though the lack of XBHs is still frustrating.

You really have to be encouraged by this team’s recent play, and here’s something to raise your spirits even more. This has been a .600 winning percentage team since the horrific run in May, and has been more than a .600 winning percentage team if you remove May altogether. They have to win at a .600 clip to get to 90 from here on our, and really it doesn’t seem that crazy, especially with how the offense is clicking right now:

Month by Month
Split   W       L       RS      RA      WP

April   14      8       112     105     .636
May     9       20      119     161     .310
June    17      11      131     120     .607
July    14      10      104     88      .583
August  10      6       80      73      .625

MIAMI (AP)—Jorge Cantu and Ronny Paulino homered, and the Marlins continued their potent pace at the plate in a 9-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night.

Sean West (4-4) allowed one run and five hits in six innings, and relievers Brian Sanches and Chris Leroux combined to give the Marlins their sixth win in the last seven games.

Florida remains 4 1/2 games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East, and three behind Colorado in the wild card. The Rockies begin a three-game series at Florida on Friday.

Now that’s more like it. Many of us were worried about Sean West starting tonight’s game but he put that rather quickly when he retired the side in the first inning on 8 pitches including a 3 pitch strikeout of Lance Berkman. He retired the first 8 hitters until 5-time Silver Slugger winner Mike Hampton  hit a ground ball single up the middle in the 3rd. In the end West only gave up 1 run on 5 hits and struck out 3 in 6 innings of work. More importantly, he didn’t walk a single batter. He threw 67% strikes and was only in a 3-ball count 3 times all night. He truly had a great start. He probably could have worked the 7th inning but had to be lifted for a pinch hitter when his spot came up in a key situation.

On offense, we came strong again tonight. The Marlins added on to their franchise record, getting more than 10 hits in 10 straight games. They scored early, getting Jorge Cantu hitting a 2-run homers in the 1st inning. Hampton kept them to that until Ronny Paulino hit a solo homer in the 5th to put the Fish up 3-1. In the 6th inning the Marlins did their business off Astros reliever Chris Sampson, who was replacing a once again injured Hampton. Wes Helms hit an RBI double to put the Fish up 4-1. Two batter’s later Fredi made the move, replacing a dealing Sean West with the pinch hitting prowess Ross Gload.  Gload kept the inning going and hits an RBI single with the bases loaded. This inning went on like this and the Marlins scored a total of 6 runs with RBI from Chris Coghlan, Emilio Bonifacio, and Hanley Ramirez.  Bonifacio, Ramirez, and Cantu all had multi-hit games and Coghlan extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

After all this Brian Sanches came out in his usual unimportant relief role, which his is absolutely killing in. He pitched two scoreless innings, keeping his 0.00 ERA at home in 24.1 IP this season. Recently called up Chris Leroux, who replaced Tim Wood, allowed 4 baserunners and 1 run in his inning of work and was not very good at all, but the whole point of him coming up was just to not use anyone when not needed and I guess he allowed that.

This was an important win. The Marlins are 4.5 games behind the Phillies in the division and are 3 games behind the Rockies in the wild card, who they start a 3 game series against on Friday. The Marlins have been playing well since then break and have a 15-10 record in that stretch, winning 6 of 8 series.

Okay then, it’s now time for everyone’s favorite segment, the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

Sean West!

You’ll usually get an offensive player winning the award when 9 runs are scored but not only did West have a fantastic start, it was also exactly what the team needed after the way the pen has been used as of late. Before tonight’s game, at least 4 relievers had appeared in 7 of the last 8 games. So for this Sean West is the Hero of the Game!

Notes: Chris Leroux made another short stay in the Bigs, being sent down to AA Jacksonville immediately after his appearance. Also, Cody Ross was removed from the game in the 7th inning with back spasms but is not expected to miss any time.

I’ve got to get to sleep, so I won’t be waiting for an article to be written on the game, but Marlins win on Dan Uggla’s bases loaded, two out single in the bottom of the 11th.

Up and down game, neither team could keep a lead, but the Marlins managed to come out on top despite Chris Volstad’s shaky start.

The offense got more than 10 hits for the 8th straight game now, the longest such streak in the majors, and you really have to like how this offense has looked since the addition of Nick Johnson.

Emilio Bonifacio damn near won it all in the 10th, but Bo Porter made a terrible decision to send Hermida and the throw beat him by about 20 feet. And yet, the Marlins actually might have gotten screwed on that, as Hermida’s foot got on the plate before Pudge got the tag on. Glad that one didn’t come back to bite them.

49 games left, 28 to get to 88, which is the bare minimum for a wild card since 2003. Still keeping a closer watch on the division at this point. Phillies win in extras as Kevin Gregg (GREEEEEEEGG) blew the game for the Cubs, so the Fish are still 3.5 back. 2.5 back in the Wild Card, though Colorado is currently losing so they could be two back by tonight. Would love to have the opportunity to jump ahead of the Rockies this weekend, so take care of the Stros in the next two.

In a season of big streaks, the Florida Marlins are suddenly back in the hunt in the NL East.

Rick VandenHurk pitched five effective innings, five Florida players had at least one RBI and the Marlins beat the Houston Astros 8-6 on Monday night for their fourth straight win.

“It was nice to come out and not be flat,” Marlins catcher John Baker said, referring to the Marlins’ first game since a three-game sweep at Philadelphia.

Baker had two RBI, and NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez had two singles and an RBI to help chase starter Brian Moehler (7-8) after five innings.

Florida moved within 3½ games of idle Philadelphia for the NL East lead.

VandenHurk (2-1) struck out four and allowed two runs and five hits.

“It wasn’t feeling like a good outing early on, but we scored some runs and it allowed me to keep attacking,” VandenHurk said.

Excellent overall win. Vandenhurk wasn’t stellar, but he did enough, and the offense gave him an early cushion to work with by scoring 4 in the first.

The top of the order for the Marlins has continued to play excellent, with Chris Coghlan getting on base 3 more times, though his streak of multi hit games was stalled at 8; just a new club record.

Each of the club’s first 6 batters reached base at least 2 times, and Cody Ross was the only starting position player to not be on base twice; he only had one walk and a sac fly for an RBI.

Don’t have the ability to post photos, so no nice pretty Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award picture, but we’ll give it out nonetheless, and tonight John Baker is the big winner!

The Marlins are now just 3.5 back and have a real opportunity to bury a hurting Houston team in the next three games going into a big wild card showdown with Colorado on the weekend. Just 26 of the team’s next 32 games are against teams with a winning record, so this is the prime time for the Marlins to make a run.

The magic number for the Wild Card is between 88-92 wins over the last 7 seasons, so you want to see them win 30 of their next 50, a not insurmountable task, but a tall one.

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Josh Johnson pitched six impressive innings, helping the Florida Marlins complete a three-game sweep over the Philadelphia Phillies with a 12-3 victory on Sunday.

The Marlins moved within four games of the NL East-leading Phillies with their first sweep in Philadelphia since April 2004. The Phillies fell to 3-8 since acquiring reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee in a blockbuster deal with Cleveland on July 29.

Johnson (11-2) allowed one run and four hits, striking out six. The All-Star right-hander is 18-3 since having Tommy John surgery in August 2007.

Jamie Moyer (10-9) gave up three runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings, failing to strengthen his case to stay in Philadelphia’s crowded rotation.

Ah, that couldn’t have gone more swimmingly, and interestingly. It started off rather normally, with the Marlins unable to get more than a few singles off Moyer in the first 4 innings. In the same time, JJ was his usual self, giving up 1 run in the first inning but then cutting through the Phillies lineup after that. Things changed in the in the 5th, after Bonifacio laid down a bunt that catcher Paul Bako couldn’t play, the Marlins stringed together 4 straight hits to take a 3-1 lead, seemingly solving their Jamie Moyer puzzle and knocked him out of the game in the 6th. Things started to get a little hairy in the bottom of the 6th with men on 1st and 3rd, but JJ got out of it striking out Ryan Howard looking.

That Howard stikeout set in motion a strange occurence. After relief pitcher Rodrigo Lopez threw a 1-1 ball, Shane Victorino in CF threw up his arms in disagreement and Ed Rapuano tossed him out of the game for what I guess was his displeasure in seeing a player show him up from 300 feet away. Later in the inning, with 2 out and 2 on, Fredi Gonzalez decided to pinch hit Ross Gload for JJ, even though he was having a terrific game. This move payed off and Ross Gload walked. Chris Coghlan then had a shallow hit to CF that was misplayed by Jayson Werth, replacing the now departed Victorino, clearing the bases.  It didn’t end there as the Marlins added on a total of 6 runs in the inning. The Phils managed to get two runs on a home run to left in the bottom of the inning but The Marlins later added on in a 3 run 9th to win the game 12-3.

Big hits were no problem today, with every member of the Marlins lineup getting a hit and Coghlan, Ramirez, Cantu, Helms, and Ross all having multi-hit games. Chris Coghlan’s 4-6 night was his eighth consecutive multi-hit game, setting a new team record.

For the record I believe Ed Rapuano was in the right tossing Victorino. No umpire likes to be shown up and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player visibly and clearly show up and umpire despite being 300 feet away from the offending play. It doesn’t help his case that he was wrong.

On the left is the called third strike to Howard (#6). Not only is that is that on the black but both pitchers were getting that call all day.

On the right is the ball to Helms that Victorino disliked (#3). It’s quite clearly a ball. I guess that’s why the umpires don’t stand in CF.

Well, now that we’re through all that nonsense, it’s times for everyone’s favorite segment, the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

For going 4-6 with 2 runs and 2 RBI and setting the Marlins record for consecutive multi-hit games, Chris Coghlan is your Hero of the Game!

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Cody Ross hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Cole Hamels in the sixth inning and Florida beat the Phillies 6-4 on Saturday night.

Chris Coghlan hit a leadoff homer and Brian Sanches (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning in relief to earn the win against his former team.

Five Marlins relievers held the Phillies to one run over five innings after starter Sean West lasted four innings in his first start since July 11.

Hamels (7-7) gave up four runs, five hits and walked four in 5 1-3 innings. Last year’s World Series and NLCS MVP, Hamels has battled inconsistency all season. He has a 4.77 ERA.

It wasn’t the prettiest win but the Fish will take it. Sean West, called up to start the game, actually pitched better than his line would say. The Phillies weren’t really hiting him hard. They actually seemed thrown off by his slider, getting on top of it and knocking it into the ground. Sadly, many of these ended up being hit so weakly that they ended up being hits. Two of their three runs came from what could be called bad luck. The first run to score came in on was what would have been an inning ending double play if it contact hadn’t been so badly and the second came in on ball that Hanley misjudged and let bounce off his glove into centerfield. In the next inning the third run came in on a popfly that hit off Nick Johnson’s glove  and dropped instead of ending the inning. He wasn’t hugely sharp but he showed signed of improvement. The bullpen behind him, on the other had, was quite good.

The bullpen behind West will be the unsung heroes in this one, giving up only 4 hits with no walks and 1 run in 5 innings of work.  That run came off Leo Nunez in a slightly shaky 9th inning but he got the job done, closing the door on the Phils.

Offensively, the Marlins did fine. They went 2-5 with RISP and scored 6 runs. Coghlan, Cody, Paulino, and Bonifacio all had multi-hit games, with Chris Coghlan tying the team record for straight multi-hit games at 7, with one being a leadoff home run, the second of his career and second off Cole Hamels. Cody Ross hit the go ahead run, a 2 run homer in the 6th inning off Cole Hamels.

And now for a segue to everyone’s favorite segment, the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

Chris Coghlan and the bullpen were close seconds but Cody Ross wins for his go-ahead homer.

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Nolasco pitched seven sharp innings, Nick Johnson and Cody Ross hit solo homers and the Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Friday night.
Series at a Glance

Fresh off getting swept by last-place Washington, the Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak in the opener of a crucial series for them against the NL East-leading Phillies. Florida moved within six games of Philadelphia, which has lost six of nine.

Ben Francisco hit a two-run homer for the Phillies, who got another strong outing from Joe Blanton (7-6). He gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings, and has allowed three runs or less in eight straight starts.

Just what the Marlins needed after the “WTF in Washington” (trademark pending). Ricky Nolasco went out there and threw another gem since coming back, pitching 7 innings of 4 hit, 2 run ball while striking out 7 and walking 2. The only mistake was a 2-run homer in the 7th inning that would have been an out in any other stadium. He’s really come back into his own since returning from AAA and has just gotten better since the break, putting up a 2.43 ERA with the Marlins winning 4 out of his 5 starts. After that, the back of Marlins bullpen did what it’s done best out of late, not giving up runs. Leo Nunez slammed the door on the Phillies with only 5 pitches, including a strikeout to start the inning off. After his recent rest period, not pitching since August 1st, his changeup looked the best it has looked in a month.

Offensively, the Marlins are still showing issues getting a “big hit”. They were having problems with RISP again, only going 2-10. Of the 12 men that reached base, only 3 scored. On a positive note, Nick “Big Stick” Johnson hit his first homer in teal. He’s been awesome with the Fish, reaching base every single game since he’s joined the team with a .567 OBP.

But now that we’re done with all of that, it’s time for everyone’s favorite segment, the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

For being ridiculously awesome, Ricky Nolasco is your Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Also, it’s worth noting that the Marlins have announced Sean West as the starter of Saturday’s game vs the Phillies. To open his roster spot they’ve optioned Luis Ayala to AAA New Orleans.