The Florida Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon by the score of 5-3. The Marlins used two runs in the seventh inning to take the lead and go on for the victory. With the two run victory, the fish took to two out of three game games against the Braves.

Doug Waechter earned the victory as he pitched a scoreless seventh inning. Marlins starting pitcher, Chris Volstad pitched six innings and gave up six hits and three runs to get the no decision. It’s too bad that Voldstad got a no decision as I thought he piched well enough to get the victory had he got a little but more run support.

For the offense, Hanley Ramirez got things started in the third inning when he hit a solo home run to put the Marlins up 1-0. The fish would score two more runs in the fourth inning that tied the game at 3-3 when Jeremy Hermida hit a two run single. In the seventh win the Marlins took the lead, Cory Ross had a rbi single and Ramirez scored on a wild pitch.

Goodjob by the Marlins, they need to go on a nice winning streak because they are on the outside looking in right now for any post season hopes.

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The Marlins took the first of three against the New York Mets 7-3 on Monday night.  The Marlins are in the thick of it for the seat atop of the NL East and just pulled to one game out of first with the win.

Ricky Nolasco started the game for the Marlins.  He pitched six innings giving up two runs on seven hits, he did not walk anyone and struck out eight.  The winning pitcher was Doug Waechter who worked just one inning of relief.  He did give up an earned run, but was the pitcher of record when the Marlins took the lead. 

The Marlins played sloppy in the field and it cost them a couple of runs early in the game, Dan Uggla was charged with only one error, but it was much worse than just that one play.  Cody Ross misjudged a ball that went over his head, and Uggla made an errant throw on the back end of what should have been a double play, however, because you can’t assume the double play, he was not charged with an error.  

The Marlins’ offense took advantage of the Mets’ terrible pitching to walk away with a victory.  John Baker homered in the fifth inning to make the score 2-1, and the Marlins tied the score at two in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Cody Ross.  The Marlins were down by a run in the bottom of the eighth, when Josh Willingham doubled to left to lead off the inning and scored on a single to center by Dan Uggla, Uggla  advanced to third on a single by Wes Helms.  John Baker got credit for a bunt single that scored Uggla, and loaded the bases.  Mets reliever Scott Schoeneweis then retired both Alfredo Amezega and Hanley Ramirez before facing pinch hitter Robert Andino, Schoeneweis threw a wild pitch that scored Helms and moved the other two runners into scoring postion.  Andino then hit a two run double to center, and would advance to third on Schoeneweis’ second wild pitch of the inning but was stranded there when Jorge Cantu grounded out to end the inning.   

The Marlins will have on the mound Scott Olsen (6-5 4.07 era).  The Mets will counter with Oliver Perez (6-6 4.15 era).  Game time is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. 

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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.

Marlins Blog

What an exciting come from behind win for the Florida Marlins over the Washington Nationals.  Hanley Ramirez tied the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with a solo home run and then Josh Willingham hit a game winning walk off solo home run in the tenth inning to win it for the Nationals.  Both of the home runs came off Nationals relief pitcher Jon Rauch.

Willingham led the Marlins at the plate with two home runs and three rbi in the game.  Ramirez, Robert Andino, and Matt Treanor all had one rbi in the game for the Marlins.  It was a nice balanced scoring attack for the fish.

Kevin Gregg who pitched the top of the tenth inning ended up recording the win in the game and improved to 6-2.  Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Tucker pitched the first five innings of the game and gave up six hits and four runs.  Tucker had problems keeping the ball in the park as he was taken deep twice.

Doug Waechter pitched 2 1/3 innings and gave up one run.   Renyel Pinto and Justin Miller pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball before Gregg took over in the tenth inning.

All in all it was a good win for the Marlins.  They never gave up and got another come from behind win as they improved their record to 43-39 on the season.  Marlins Blog

Eh, not a whole lot to blog about today as the Florida Marlins were one hit by Tampa Bay Rays starter Matt Garza.  Garza completely dominated the Rays the entire game besides one pitch to Hanley Ramirez in the in the seventh inning that Ramirez hit for a home run.

Marlins starting pitcher Mark Hendrickson didn’t make it out of the fifth inning as he only pitched 4 2/3 innings.  Hendrickson struggled as he gave up five hits and five runs in the game.  Hendrickson gave up one solo home run to Evan Longoria in the game.

Doug Waechter pitched four innings of relief and gave up four hits and one run.  Waechter gave up a solo home run to Ben Zobrist in the eighth inning.  For pitching four innings, Waechter didn’t do that badle, Hendrickson just put the team in a big hole by giving up five early runs.

The Marlins will welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday to start a three game weekend series.

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Some people subscribe to the theory that these heartbreaking defeats where the team battles and battles, but finally loses, are good for a team. They say these kind of losses build “character”. Well, if that is true, then the Florida Marlins lead all of major league baseball in character. Too bad you can’t trade in some of this character for a game or two in the standings. The division leading Phillies have hit a rough patch of their own, losing three straight, but once again, Florida fails to capitalize. Getting back to these heartbreaking, character building losses, it seems that The Fish follow the same formula in every one. First the starting pitcher puts them in a nice hole, the way Mark Hendrickson did last night, surrendering four runs in the third. Step two is the comeback phase, usually accomplished via the home run, provided last night by Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida, and done twice by Dan Uggla, giving him 23 for the year. The comeback phase in these “Signature Losses” is done bit by bit, often requiring some ninth inning HR heroics, as was the case yesterday; Uggla’s second HR tied the game and sent it into extra innings. And of course, none of these losses would be complete without a really bad ending in which the Fish basically beat themselves. Sometimes it’s the bullpen that implodes with our relievers helping out the other team by doing things like walking the lead off man, or walking the pitcher, or throwing a wild pitch or two and getting so flustered that they just start serving fastballs right down the middle of the plate. Sometimes the bullpen is fine, but ERRORS are the reason we lose these types of games, as was the case last night. Bottom of the eleventh inning Eric Chavez, the A’s third baseman, launches a deep fly to left off Doug Waechter, our fifth pitcher. The ball is well hit, but it’s not going out. Off the wall maybe? No, Luis Gonzalez has plenty of room with his back against the wall and all he has to is reach up and catch it. He doesn’t even have to jump. So he raises his hand, the ball nestles nicely in the pocket of his glove and… and it pops out and hits the ground. Chavez ends up at second base and some guy called Kurt Suzuki promptly delivers the walk off hit. The Marlins have had so many of these kinds of losses this year that it’s getting to be like they’re actors following a script. And it’s a great script, very entertaining and all, complete with heroes and unfortunately, a goat or two, but it has a lousy ending; another Marlins loss.

I’m not one of those guys who believes in that losing builds character nonsense. The only thing these losses build is a track record of losing these type of “close and late” games. Far from building character, these losses are devastating to the psyche of teams, especially young teams like the Marlins. Late in the game or in extra innings a team that loses a lot of these types of games starts pressing. It’s like every guy on the field is thinking it, even subconsciously: how are we gonna blow it tonight? And : I sure hope I ain’t The Goat tonight, the guy who commits the error, or issues the walk that causes us to lose THIS game. Once teams start thinking like that, forget about it, they’re going to KEEP losing those kinds of games. Sure, looking at last night’s loss there are some positives we can take from the way the team battled back, never quit, kept on plugging away, etc., etc. Back in April & May when we had games like this and nobody really thought this team was going to be a serious contender, those types of pats on the back, those attempts to find some positives from these losses were acceptable. But not any more; not now. Not with the Marlins in a genuine pennant race. Now, there ARE NO positives to take from these kinds of losses. In fact there are some big negatives that they need to fix and quick. We have to find out why we make these kinds of errors and issue lead off walks and stuff like that in these kinds of close games. We need to figure out how to CLOSE THE DEAL in these games, not just make these great comebacks and then lose. Real contenders find a way to WIN these kinds of games; PRETENDERS find ways to lose them.

The Florida Marlins were not able to beat the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night as they lost 5-3.  The Marlins tried coming back but were only able to score one run in the eighth inning when they were needed to score three or four.

Mark Hendrickson pitched five innings and gave up eight hits and four runs to take the loss.  Hendrickson is now 5-2 on the season.  Doug Waechter gave up two hits and one run as he pitched in relief as well.  Matt Lindstrom pitched a scoreless inning after Waechter left the game.

Cody Ross had a solo home run in the eighth inning for the Marlins.  The other rbi’s for the Marlins came in the fifth and seventh innings.  In the fifth inning, Hanley Ramirez had a sac fly to score a run and then in the seventh inning, Dan Uggla had a rbi single to center field.

The Marlins are now 23-16 on the season.  I see them bouncing back tomorrow and picking up their 24th win of the season.  Marlins Blog

The Florida Marlins completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers with a 6-2 victory on Wednesday night.  The Marlins jumped all over Brewers starting pitcher Dave Bush to score six runs in the first six innings of the game.

Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla both hit home runs for the Marlins in the sixth inning.  Mike Jacobs and Cantu both led the Marlins with two RBI in the game.  Jeremy Hermida and Uggla both had one RBI.

Burke Badenhop  tossed 5 2/3 innings to pick up his first win of the season.  Badenhop is now 1-2 on the season.  Doug Waechter and Renyel Pinto pitched the final 2 1/3 innings without give up a run.

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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 struggled at the plate against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night as they lost 7-3.  The Marlins were only able to scrap together six hits.  They probably wouldn’t even have scored a run if Josh Willingham didn’t go 3-4 with four RBI.

Besides Willinghams three hits, only three other Marlins players had a hit.  Talk about a terrible performance at the place for the Marlins.

On the mound for the Marlins, Burke Badenhop took the loss after throwing five innings.  Badenhop gave up eight hits and six runs in the game.  Logan Kensing pitched two scoreless innings before Doug Waechter gave up a run in the eighth inning.

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