Florida Marlins Baseball

Confidence by our pitchers.

I have said all season long our talented pitchers have lacked confidence to get easy outs and put some innings in their arms. Tonight's game proved if a young pitcher has run support, he'll get batters out.

Josh Johnson (3-2, 2.78) gave the Marlins bullpen somewhat of a rest Wednesday night as he produced a four hit performance in six innings pitched (his longest on the season). He was given support by 11 Marlin runs, led by Miguel Cabrera's four hits, two RBI and solo jack to left-center field.

The game was blown open in bottom half of the seventh inning when the Fish unloaded three runs by a Cabrera double, Josh Willingham single, and Joe Borchard single. Timely hitting proved to be our strength tonight.

Borchard's three run homer in the eighth, his first as a Marlin, put the game out of reach despite a two run rally by the Braves in the ninth. Borchard ended the game with four RBI and two hits.

Pitching Matchup to Close the Series
Don't miss the rubber match of this series as Dontrelle Willis (1-3, 5.15) squares off against Braves ace Tim Hudson (2-3, 5.09). Okay, so you're saying their stats don't make them look like quality pitchers, but it's an early season.

German to the DL
According to FloridaMarlins.com, Franklyn German will be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with tendinitis in his right shoulder. Pitcher Logan Kensing will be called back up from AAA Albuquerque. Kensing is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA for the Isotopes.

Crazy Stat of the Night
Edgar Renteria's box score read Ab-4 H- 0
His hitless performance ended a 24 game hitting steak.

Posted by Brian Saal at 7:11 PM | Permalink | Comments

The Marlins are no strangers to breaking records: Fastest expansion team to win a world series. First Wild Card team to win the World Series, and longest hitting steak by a second baseman. However the current teams 11 home game losing streak is one record the team does not want to break. Tied with the 1999 Marlins, a lose Wednesday against the Braves would mark the record.

The Fish will turn to Josh Johnson (2-2, 3.78) to stop the bleeding for the Marlins. Perhaps Johnson can give the bullpen rest, which have been plagued with excess innings so far this season. Just his second start of the season, Johnson will try to do what he hasn't done: pitch more than five innings.

If Johnson has an impressive performance, look for Marlins hitters to give him support. Hanley Ramirez has been hitting .455 in the past week, and Cabrera has driven in eight runs.

Future Bright for the Marlins
Good news for the Fish, after these two games against the Bravos, the Marlins are greeted by a 10 game road trip. Hard to look forward to a road trip, but you catch my drift. The trip takes us through Pittsburg, Atlanta, and Tampa.

Crazy stat of last game
Last night, Franklyn German threw just two pitches and did not even record an out. The boxscore read: 0.0 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER.
Story: German left becuase of a hurt shoulder

Posted by Brian Saal at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments

Lack of starting pitchers going deep into games have been the biggest weakness for the 2006 Florida Marlins.

Tuesday's game proved no different.

The Marlins had a 1-0 lead over NL East division foe Atlanta Braves at the end of fourth inning. In the top of the Fifth, starting pitcher Brian Moehler held a breaking ball to Left Fielder Brian Jordan and suddenly the Fish were down 3-1. Moehler was only able to get one out in the sixth before handing the ball off to Todd Wellemeyer.

For the fourth straight game, an opposing batter went to the plate twice in an inning against the Marlins. This can be chalked up to a lack of confidence from our pitchers. When the going gets tough, our pitchers lose their focus and find it impossible to get an out. Moehler's two walks on four pitches are testament to this. Wellemeyer get Jordan to strike out for the second out in the inning but could buy an out from that point. A single, a walk, a single, and a walk later Andruw Jones finally popped out in foul territory. If our pitchers lack confidence, so will the entire ball club.

From that point on our hitters tried too hard to play catch-up, grounding out all three times in the bottom of the sixth. While nobody expected another ring this season, competition would be sweet.

Posted by Brian Saal at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments