The Florida Marlins and Cincinnati Reds played a make up game on Monday afternoon and the Marlins played great except for one inning. In the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins gave up six runs and the Reds came from behind to beat the Marlins by the score of 7-5. Tough loss for the Marlins as it was a game that they should have won.

Ricky Nolasco was the starting pitcher for the fish and he ended up with a no decision. Nolasco threw six innings and gave up six hits and three runs. He did strike out five batters but also gave up a solo home run.

Andrew Miller was the lossing pitcher as he was charged with two runs while not recording an out. He is now 6-10 on the season. Logan Kensing and Arthur Rhodes both gave up one run in relief as well.

Four different Marlins players had one rbi each. Jeremy Hermida and Josh Willingham both hit solo home runs while Cameron Maybin and Matt Treanor both helped out with one run as well. The other two runs that the Marlins scored were un-earned as they scored on an error and a wild pitch.

Now the team will board a plane and fly to Washington D.C. where they will begin a three game series with the Nationals on Tuesday night.

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It was a back and forth game on Monday night as the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies played. The Marlins came out on the short stick however as they dropped the game 8-6. The Marlins attempted a comeback in the eighth inning with two runs but still fell short and then was shut down in the ninth inning by Brad Lidge.

Anibal Sanchez pitcher terrible as he gave up five hits and five runs in only 1 2/3 innings. Sanchez took the loss and fell to 2-4 on the season. Andrew Miller pitched 2/3’s of an inning and was charged with two runs while Joe Nelson gave up one run as well in relief. Just a bad pitching performance out of the fish.

At the plate, Mike Jacobs and Cory Ross both hit two run home runs and finished the game with two rbi’s each. John Baker added a rbi sac fly and Alfredo Amezaga added a rbi ground out in the second inning for the Marlins.

Hopefully the fish can bounce back and take game two on Tuesday night.

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The Florida Marlins were hammered by the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night by the score of 10-1.  The Padres jumped all over Marlins starting pitcher Andrew Miller who only lasted five innings after giving up six hits and four runs.  The Marlins bullpen wasn’t much better however as they allowed the Padres to tack on six more runs in the game.

Doug Waechter was charged with five runs (three were earned) while only recording one out in the sixth inning.  Waechter served up a three run home run to Scott Hairston which really blew the game wide open.  Logan Kensing then gave up one more run and by that time the game was pretty much over in my books.

Jeremy Hermida had the only rbi for the Marlins as he hit a solo home run in the first inning off of Randy Wolf.  Other than that one hit by Hermida, the Marlins only had five hits while leaving 16 runners on base and striking out eight times.

It was a terrible day for the Marlins who just need to forget about it and come out and play better Wednesday afternoon as they still have a chance to win the series against the Padres.

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The Marlins lost the final game of a grueling 9 game road trip, 7-1 to Justin Duchscherer and the Oakland A’s. Andrew Miller suffered the loss to see his record fall to 5-6, but the real culprit was The Marlins’ porous defense which set the stage for most of the A’s runs. A booted ball by Wes Helms at 3rd base and a nightmarish game behind the plate by Mike Rabelo helped the A’s get to Miller early, and Duchscherer did the rest, holding the potent Marlin’s offense to just one run in 7 2/3 innings.

The game started well enough for The Fish with Jeremy Hermida hitting his eighth HR in the first inning, but it was all down hill from there. The A’s tied the game in the bottom of the first helped by a Wes Helms boot of a DP grounder. Then in the bottom of the third, all the wheels came off for Miller & the Marlins. The A’s scored four times without any real good hits, taking advantage of a passed ball by Rabelo, and then a brain lock by the Marlins catcher on a first to home double play ball. Marlins first baseman Jorge Cantu fielded a grounder, stepped on first and threw home to Rabelo who had plenty of time to tag the runner coming in from third. But he thought the force play was in effect, so he merely stepped on the plate and did not tag the runner. The run scored, and the following A’s batter blooped a lazy pop up behind 1st base that scored two more runs, and you could have shut your TV off right there. I wish I had done so; that way I would have missed another ineffective relief performance by Matt Lindstrom and Logan Kensing later in the game.

At any rate, the Fish end the road trip with a 4-5 record and actually picked up ground on the Phillies, who lost again, their fifth straight defeat. The Marlins are just one game out of first place as they head home to start a three game series Tuesday with Tampa Bay.

The Florida Marlins defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-3 Wednesday night, taking two out of three games against the AL West club. As they have done all season long, the Marlins used the long ball to power the team to victory, getting two run HRs from Mike Jacobs, his 17th, and Dan Uggla, his 21st. Rookie right hander Ryan Tucker picked up the win, his second in three starts. The win, combined  with a Philadelphia Phillies  loss to the Boston Red Sox, pulled The Fish to within two games of the Eastern Division lead.

Tucker gave the Marlins a solid six inning start, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, striking out four. He featured a lively fastball in the mid nineties, and had good command. He only walked two batters, which was very encouraging indeed, considering the control problems which have periodically plagued Marlins pitchers this year. Suddenly the Marlins’ pitching staff seems to be jelling into a formidable, if still a bit inconsistent, unit. The team that started the season with more question marks than answers, is now starting to evolve into one of the most promising young pitching staffs in the league. Tonight’s performance by Tucker follows another impressive start by Andrew Miller on Monday, giving the Marlins a potent lefty-righty rookie punch. Both youngsters feature electric arms that can bring the heat at 96 mph, accompanied by good breaking pitches. The talent is obvious; the only question was whether they can consistently show the command of the strike zone needed to win games in the major leagues. In addition to these two phenoms, the starting staff has gotten good performances from the “old men” of the staff, Scott Olsen, 24, and Ricky Nolasco, 25, who has emerged surprisingly as the team’s stopper this year. If this young staff continues to perform at this level, the Marlins have to be considered favorites to win the Eastern Division. Admittedly that’s a big “if” because the rookies are still learning how to pitch at the major league level, but the talent is there, and that talent, combined with a Marlins offense that bludgeons the opposition nightly under a  barrage of home runs, could carry this team to victory down the stretch. In baseball, it all begins and ends with pitching, and this young pitching staff is starting to come around. They will be getting a boost soon with the return of Josh Johnson and maybe Anibal Sanchez as well, so the prospects certainly are bright.

In addition to the good start from Tucker and the almost routine long ball display by the offense, the Marlins’ defense played an error free game, and the bullpen closed it out, but not before closer Kevin Gregg got everyone nervous again in the ninth inning. If the Marlins are to contend down the stretch, it is going to take more than just home runs and good performances by the starting pitchers. They are going to have to have more games with a big fat “0″ under the “E” on the scoreboard, and Gregg and the rest of the bullpen are going to have to tighten up their act as well. The Marlins slugging has enabled them to mostly overcome their suspect fielding this year, and the bullpen has been wildly inconsistent. Gregg in particular has been a 9th inning cardiac arrest in progress; even when he does manage to get the save he does so the hard way, walking batters, giving up hits, and in general making Marlins fans sweat every last out. Memo to Kevin: a one two three ninth inning is ok, you know. Every game does NOT need a dramatic ending.

Anyway, two out of three from Seattle is very good, and now The Fish are off to Oakland for three games starting Friday.

It seems like our starting rotation is finally growing out of its growing pains as Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco, and Andrew Miller are beginning to pile up an impressive string of starts.

After the Marlins’ 6-1 victory over the lowly Mariners, Miller improved to 5-5 with an ERA below 5.00 for the first time this season.  At the end of April, Miller’s ERA was 9.12.  But May and June have both seen sub-4.00 work from the young lefty.  It certainly seems to be a better performance than former fan favorite Dontrelle Willis who is struggling in Florida (Lakeland, FL).

Meanwhile, earlier in the day Ricky Nolasco was name NL co-player of the week after going 2-0 with 1.23 ERA and 15 strikeouts.

Scott Olsen has been the staff ace all year long, despite only 4 wins.  His 3.27  ERA is by far and away the best on the staff.  It is important to note that Mark Hendrickson’s 7 wins are greatly appreciated, but his late May and June performances deny him from being a part of the Marlins’ Big Three.  (Also, it wouldn’t be mathematically sound.)

With a record of 38 and 32, the Marlins remain striking distance away from the Philadelphia Phillies at 3 games back.  If the back end of the rotation, Hendrickson and rookie Ryan Tucker, follows the Big Three’s lead, there would be no reason the Fish couldn’t catch the Phillies.

The Florida Marlins blew their one run lead in the top of the ninth inning but then came back in the bottom of the ninth inning as Dan Uggla hit another walk off home run.  This time it was a walk off grand slam that gave the Marlins a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Before Uggla’s grand slam (his 19th home run of the season), the Marlins other two runs came off the bat of Jorge Cantu who hit solo home runs in the first and seventh innings.  I would have liked to see more production for other guys in the lineup but sometimes that is just how things go in baseball.

Andrew Miller pitched seven innings and gave up four hits and one run as he started the game for the Marlins.  It was a very good outing for the young pitcher even though he got the no decision in the game.  Justin Miller tossed a scoreless eighth inning before Kevin Gregg was called in to close out the game.  However Gregg gave up a run and the game was tied 2-2 heading into the bottom of the inning.  Gregg blew the save, but actually picked up the win as the Marlins scored in the bottom of the inning.

The Marlins will be going for the three game sweep on Thursday night as Scott Olsen will get the start on the mound against the Phillies.

Marlins Blog

The Florida Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 4-0 on Thursday night and completed a three game sweep of the Diamondbacks.  Now that was a great sweep for the Marlins who are playing some good baseball right now.

Andrew Miller improved his record to 5-3 on season as he picked up the win for the Marlins.  Miller tossed seven innings while only giving up five hits.  Logan Kensing and Justin Miller both tossed a inning each without allowing a run.

Jorge Cantu and Wes Helms led the Marlins with two rbi each in the game.  Cantu had a rbi ground out in the first inning and then a rbi single in the seventh inning.  Helms got his rbi in the seventh inning on a rbi double.

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The Florida Marlins lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 on Tuesday night after the Dodgers broke a  6-6 tie in the ninth inning with a RBI single by Jeff Kent.  It was a tough loss for the Marlins as they dropped to 15-11 on the season.

Starting pitcher Andrew Miller got roughed up in only three innings of action.  Nine hits and six runs later Miller was out of the game as it made it a long night for the Marlins bullpen.  Doug Waechter and Renyel Pinto both pitched two scoreless innings before Kevin Gregg gave up the game winning hit to Kent.  Gregg picked up the loss and is now 3-1 on the season.

Jeremy Hermida had two RBI for the Marlins in the game.  Dan Uggla provided a solo home run to finish with one RBI.  Jorge Cantu, Luis Gonzalez, and Mike Rabelo all had one RBI as well.

Marlins Blog

The Florida Marlins brought he big sticks out on Monday night and clubbed three homeruns against the Washington Nationals.  The Marlins put up 10 runs in the ballgame as Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Robert Andino all went deep.

Andrew Miller started the game on the mound for the Marlins but only lasted 3.1 innings as he gave up eight hits and six earned runs.  Miller is going to have to show a better performance than that if he wants to make sure he keeps his spot in the rotation all year long.

Renyel Pinto picked up the win as he pitched 2.2 innings in relief.  Kevin Gregg picked up his first save of the season.  The Marlins bullpen really bailed them out today and it might be something they have to do a lot this season.

After the game, the Marlins activated OF Jeremy Hermida off the DL and optioned OF Brett Carroll to the minors. Before, they purchased the contract of RHP Burke Badenhop from Double-A Carolina.