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Marlins Sweep Nationals and He Shall Livan

August 12, 2010 in Regular Season, The Latest

It was a strange night where the Fish couldn’t seem to avoid a rain delay – in another part of the country. There was a void at Nationals Park, too. (Both elements must have made the Marlins feel like they were at home.) There was a late night, a triple turned into a home run, and an oversized ginger kid wearing a tight Elmo shirt. No one took the bait on that one, but it does beg, should anyone tickle Elmo in that situation?

One not so weird thing – the Fish won, again. That makes 4 in a row. Makes you wonder if Leo Nunez could close out those games against Philly and St. Louis how things would be looking right now. Instead, the Marlins have a nice streak going while heading out for the red-eye to the land of chili (check out Ron White’s routine on Cincy being the self-proclaimed capital of chili by the way) by way of Kentucky. Yeah, weird.

The Marlins did it in the usual way for them tonight, a three run “homer” for the rookie sensation Mike Stanton, who is on a tear now with 5 home runs in 15 games. Dan Uggla knocked in a run and the Marlins even scored a run on a wild pitch (Uggla flashed his wheels on a steal home from 3B). Maybe things are turning around at just the right time. Ricky didn’t lose that number as Nolasco, Jose Veras, Clay Hensley and Burke Badenhop combined for a shutout. Nolasco has been phenomenal of late, helping Josh Johnson pace this team’s starts.

The Reds are one of the better offenses in baseball right now. They even had a scrap with the Cardinals, thanks to Brandon Phillips – who apparently doesn’t have any deep-seeded feelings against the Marlins, so don’t expect an MMA brawl to break out. Too bad, John Baker is still out and we could have used him in the melee.

On the way to tonight’s victory, the Marlins saddled Livan Hernandez, the former Marlin who helped bring home a trophy back in 1997 and still continues to pitch despite his weight being disproportional to his velocity. The guy can flat out throw. And don’t forget Pudge Rodriguez as he creeps ever closer to his 3K milestone (2,791 hits after tonight).

Like stats? Here you go – eat ‘em up. Heading off to bed. Marlins are too, I think. Cincinnati tomorrow and another good test to see if the Fish are up for it.

Ricky Nolasco Pitches Gem to Keep Marlins On Top

July 6, 2009 in Regular Season, Starting Pitching

The Florida Marlins were swept earlier in the year by the Pirates in a three game series. In fact, it seemed to set the tone for the Marlins early on in the season as they spiraled downward after starting the season 11-1. The Pirates, however, were a different team then featuring Nate McClouth – who has since been traded to the Braves.

Still, the scrappy Pirates proved to be tough in this home series as they took the first game but the Marlins came back and stole the final two games of this series going 5-1 on this homestand. Ricky Nolasco provided his best outing of the season, which is great news for the team as they depart for a west coast trip and 3 games over .500.

Nolasco pitched 8 innings striking out 12 and only walking 2 batters. He gave up only 3 hits and lowered his ERA to a now manageable 5.45. Nolasco’s accuracy has much improved since his return from the minor leagues – of the 112 pitches he threw 75 were for strikes. He flat out dominated the Pirates hitters on a way to a combined shutout – Leo Nunez closed the door in the 9th to preserve the 5 run lead and shutout.

On offense the Marlins got 2 hits each from Jeremy Hermida, Wes Helms and John Baker. The offense didn’t do it with the long ball, but instead took advantage of situations to move runners and forced the Pirates to pay for mistakes.

The Marlins are playing good baseball right now, just in time to take on the Giants who are also playing well of late. The Marlins are vying for that top spot in the NL East but the defending champion Phillies won’t go quietly.

The shutout was the 2nd shutout for the Marlins this season.