One reason the Florida Marlins are still in contention is that NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez is doing a much better job this season of hitting in clutch situations.

Ramirez drove in three runs with a pair of two-out hits, leading Florida to an 8-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday and helping the Marlins win their third straight series at Chavez Ravine.

Ramirez was 2 for 4, raising his career average at Dodger Stadium to .344. He’s hitting .348 overall this season and .427 with runners in scoring position — second in the majors. Last season, the two-time All-Star shortstop had a .239 average in that department.

“He led off his first three years in the major leagues and won a Silver Slugger. Now we’ve put him in the three hole and he’s driving in runs,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “This guy can do anything on the baseball field. If you ask him to play center field tomorrow, he may win a Gold Glove. He’s that talented.”

Chris Volstad (8-9) allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old right-hander was helped by three double plays, one of them in the first when Orlando Hudson took off from first base on Andre Ethier’s long drive to center fielder Cody Ross and couldn’t get back in time after having to retouch second.

Hanley is not a fan of getting hit, but he did take home his first CCHOTGA for his troubles.

Tempted to give the Hero award to Burke Badenhop for protecting Hanley, who has been vocal about teams going after him this season. He’s been hit 5 times and has made sure everyone knows he’s unhappy with it. Good to see Burke protecting the star. He said after the game he “let one get away”, but we know better. Hat tip to Burke.

I didn’t actually get to watch any of this series, but it’s nice to see the team take two of three, though would’ve liked to have held on Saturday for the sweep. Either way, a 5-1 road trip has them 3.5 heading into a big series against the Braves this week. I’ll probably be at at least one of the games, maybe more, and hopefully there’s a decent crowd.

Every series from here on out is big, but if the team can take care of the Braves by Thursday, don’t be surprised to see a move on the trade deadline on Friday. Here’s to hoping they put up a better fight than they did against the Phils last week.

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hermida drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan homered in the eighth and the Florida Marlins kept rolling up the West Coast with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

All-Star Josh Johnson (9-2) pitched seven resilient innings as the Marlins followed up a three-game sweep in San Diego with a victory over the major league-leading Dodgers, whose five-game winning streak ended.
After Andre Ethier’s two-run double in the sixth tied it at 3 for Los Angeles, Cody Ross singled off reliever James McDonald (2-2) before Hermida drove him home with a single off Brent Leach.

In his first official start since July 12th in Arizona, Josh Johnson went 7 innings with 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB and 4 K, making the menacing Dodgers lineup look like any other team when facing JJ. The bullpen, as has become routine as of late, followed him up with 1 hit and 1 walk in 2 innings of work and Leo Nunez once again recording the save.

On the offense, it looked way better than it did in San Diego. The Fish didn’t score a run until a Wes Helms double in the 5th inning to plate Bonifacio but they added two in the 6th, one in the 7th, and two in the 8th to win it 6-3. In the end every Marlins with an PA had a hit but Dan Uggla, with Bonifacio, Helms, and Paulino having multi-hit games. Chris Coghlan had a pinch hit home run in the 8th.

One interesting note: Hermida pinch hit for Carroll when Carroll’s 8th spot came up against a RHP. Dodger manager Joe Torre quickly countered with a LHP from the pen but Hermida was left in, as opposed to Fredi making a second pinch hitting move with Gaby Sanchez. Even more interesting was that Chris Coghlan, not Sanchez, was on deck to PH for Johnson, even though CC has hit .222/.323/.333 in 63 plate appearances vs LHP. With every decision made, it’s becoming more and more puzzling as to why the Marlins called up Gaby Sanchez in the first place.

Well then, now that all that is settled, it’s time for everyone’s favorite segment, the handing out of the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

It’s a tie!

For keeping one of the top offenses in baseball to 3 runs, the first part of the award goes to Josh Johnson!

And for hitting a 2 out, PH single to bring in the go-ahead run in the 7th, the second part of the award goes to Jeremy Hermida!

You two share now.

Forget about the 6 Million Dollar Man; how about the One Dollar Man? Makes the Double Cheesburger I had at lunch sit even worse than it already was.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-skolnick-cody-ross-s071709sbjul17,0,5631670.column

Height. Weight. Strength. Speed. Salary. Statistics.

And value, in terms of the return that athlete can command in a trade.

So does Cody Ross recall what the Marlins sacrificed for his services from the Cincinnati Reds on May 26, 2006, countless chants and 270 starts ago?

“Yes, yes,” Ross says with a smile, before starting the season’s second half against the first-place Phillies. “It was for a dollar.”

But wasn’t there any personnel compensation to complement the cash considerations? Perhaps a player to be named later?

“Yeah,” Ross says. “His name was Benjamin Franklin.”

OK, so at least the Marlins threw in a C-note for the former fourth-round pick. …

“George Washington, I mean,” Ross says. “I just found that out this year, that it was for one dollar. That’s it. Pretty good deal.”

Better than any you’ll find at McDonald’s.

This is one buck that even the stingy Marlins don’t want back. It bought more than salty fries and gooey pie. It bought a productive player whose second-half follow-through will be critical to their playoff push.

Since joining Florida, Ross has provided power up and down the lineup as well as defense around the outfield — especially in center, where he is most comfortable. He has become what many no longer expected, after the Tigers dumped him on the Dodgers for the pitcher Steve Colyer and the Dodgers shipped him to the Reds for a player to be named later and, just a month later, the Reds sent him to the Marlins before that player (pitcher Ben Kozlowski) had even been identified.

“I have always felt like I was an everyday big-leaguer, and I’ve heard a lot of people say that I wasn’t,” Ross says. “I just never let that affect me. I knew I was capable of doing it, it was just a matter of me going out and proving it.”

Instead, he spent this April proving doubters right, hitting .217, struggling to lock in his swing.

“I just remember one day in the clubhouse and was sitting here, thinking to myself, ‘I’m fed up, sick and tired of not producing and performing, and I’m going to get pissed off and take that attitude out there,’” Ross says. “You’ve got to think to yourself you’re the best player in the game. From then on, it just kind of turned.”

After April and through the All-Star break, he hit .301 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI. While Jeremy Hermida, with his perfect swing and ideal baseball body, hasn’t become what the Marlins projected, the bald, stubby castoff has been everything and more.

Since joining the Marlins, Ross has hit .266 with 59 home runs and 201 RBI. During that same time frame, Hermida has hit .264 with 50 home runs and 186 RBI. Ross has committed 14 fewer errors (nine vs. 23) with superior range and versatility.

If Hermida is a big-league starter, Ross certainly is.

Ross is something else: a fan favorite, due to his fun first name and engaging personality. This is a guy who readily admits that, when growing up in New Mexico, he longed to be a clown. “Not a circus clown,” he insists. “A rodeo clown. Big difference. Rodeo clowns protect the cowboys from getting hurt when they fall off. They just dress up in that funny attire to entertain the fans during the rodeo.”

Marlins fans find him entertaining enough to grant him a chant, one of only three South Florida athletes so honored. Panthers’ “David Bo-o-o-o-o-th!” The Heat’s “MV3″ for Dwyane Wade. And “Cody, Cody, Cody!”

Ross thinks that began after his walkoff home run against the Reds’ Francisco Cordero last June. His wife Summer cringes when she hears it, worrying about the pressure. He tries to block it out by thinking of Kevin Costner in For The Love of the Game, telling himself to “clear the mechanism.”

“But I like it,” he says. “It gets me going a little bit. It makes me want to do something for the fans.”

The Marlins, too. Though they long ago got their money’s worth.

Because Marlins fans need more reason to adore Cody Ross.

Beinfest might not be the best drafter, and he’s hit or miss on trades, but the guy has a knack for dumpster diving and finding great value. Ross, Nelson, Meyer, Calero, Justin Miller. The list goes on and on.