The Marlins managed to score a grand total of four runs in their three-game series against the Phillies this weekend, incredibly enough, they only lost two of the games. Yesterday, it was Roy Halladay winning his 200th career game, beating the Fish 2-1. Halladay, who came into the game with a 14.73 ERA, dominated the worst offensive team in the majors, allowing only the one run and five hits in his eight innings of work. Halladay became the 109th pitcher to reach the 200-win milestone. Pinch-hitter Laynce Nix broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth inning with a home run off reliever Jon Rauch. Again, the team continue to lack in the fundamentals, and you can pretty much count on the Fish making a baserunning blunder that costs them runs on a daily basis. That’s what happens when you have players on the field that are not major-league ready, and a first-year manager still learning the ropes. Tonight, the Fish welcome the Washington Nationals to Marlins Park in the first game of a three-game series this weekend. The Nats may be a little angry, after getting swept at home by the red-hot Atlanta Braves. Here are the pitching match-ups for the three-game set:
MON 7:10 pm Jordan Zimmerman vs Wade LeBlanc
TUES 7:10 pm Dan Haren vs Alex Sanabia
WED 7:10 pm Ross Detwiler vs Ricky Nolasco
The weekend wasn’t a total loss for the Marlins, however, who were able to beat the Phils 2-1 on Saturday, thanks to another stellar effort by 20-year-old Jose Fernandez, even though he has yet to record a victory, thanks to the bullpen. Fernandez became the first pitcher 20 years or younger to allow less than two runs and less than four hits in each of his first two starts since .... (sounds like a trivia question.) Fernandez’ next start is scheduled for Thursday in Cincinnati against the Reds.
The Marlins were without Giancarlo Stanton all weekend due to a shoulder strain. The Man-Child, has yet to drive in a run, is hitting only .167, and has struck out 12 times in 30 at-bats this season. He will be evaluated today and it is yet to be determined when he will be able to return to the lineup. Outfielder Austin Kearns remains in the hospital after being admitted with an irregular heartbeat. The Fish may be forced to put him on the DL and make a move to replace him temporarily.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: On Saturday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez became the first pitcher 20 years or younger to allow less than two runs and less than four hits in his first two starts since 1965. Who did it in 1965? Tell you later, alligator.
The Marlins have scored a grand total of 20 runs in their first twelve games. That, my friends, is AWFUL. I will be posting the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored until the Marlins aren’t on the list:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 2-10 20
Rays 4-7 33
Dodgers 7-5 34
Brewers 3-8 29
Padres 2-10 39
In the rest of MLB yesterday, first in the National League,
Braves 9 Nationals 0
Andrelton Simmons hit a three-run homer, Justin Upton hit his major-league leading seventh dinger to lead the Braves, who improved their record to 11-1, their best start since 1994, when they opened the season 13-1. Paul Maholm is now 3-0, and he has yet to give up a run in 20 1/3 innings this season.
Pirates 10 Reds 7
Starling Marte’s eighth-inning home run capped a comeback from a 5-0 deficit. Michael McKenry hit his first two home runs of the season.
Brewers 4 Cards 3 (10)
Jonathan Lucroy’s homer in the top of the tenth inning was the difference.
Giants 10 Cubs 7 (10)
Hunter Pence tied the game in the ninth with a two run homer and the Giants scored three more runs in the tenth to take 3 out of 4 against the Cubbies in Chicago.
D-Backs 1 Dodgers 0
Paul Goldschmidt ended the game with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth.
Rockies 2 Padres 1
Todd Helton connected long distance with a runner on base in the seventh inning to lift the Rockies.
In the American League,
Tigers 10 A’s 1
Austin Jackson went 4-6 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Miguel Cabrera also drove in a couple of runs in the win.
White Sox 3 Indians 1
Paul Konerko hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning.
Red Sox 5 Rays 0
Clay Buchholz took a no-hitter into the eight inning and racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in the win.
Royals 3 Blue Jays 2
Alex Gordon delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Angels 4 Astros 1
Josh Hamilton singled, tripled, and homered and finished with three RBI. Mike Trout also connected long distance.
Mariners 4 Rangers 3
Jesus Montero knocked in the tying run and scored the game-winner on Dustin Ackley’s single in the sixth inning. Raul Ibañez homered for Seattle in the win.
Yankees 3 Orioles 0
Hiroki Kuroda tossed his fifth career shutout. Brett Gardner hit a two-run homer to lead the Yankees to their fifth win in six games.
The game between the Mets and the Twins was postponed to to a snowstorm in Minneapolis.
Today’s games, first in the National League:
Cardinals @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Lance Lynn vs James McDonald
Phillies @ Reds 7:10 pm
Cliff Lee vs Bronson Arroyo
Mets @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Dillon Gee vs Juan Nicasio
Padres @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Eric Stults vs Chad Billingsley
Over in the American League:
Rays @ Red Sox 11:05 am
Jeremy Hellickson vs Ryan Dempster
White Sox @ Blue Jays 7:07 pm
Gavin Floyd vs Mark Buehrle
Angels @ Twins 8:10 pm
Joe Blanton vs Kevin Correia
Astros @ Athletics 10:05 pm
Erik Bedard vs Tommy Milone
The Braves are off to a blazing 11-1 start, and Fredi Gonzalez’ bullpen is again dominating. David O’Brien has the details here:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
The Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics on Friday, 109-101 and yesterday, they got a little bit of revenge against the Chicago Bulls, 105-93. LeBron James scored 24 points, Dwyane Wade added 22, and the Birdman scored a season-high 15 in the win. Chicago continues to be a dirty team, and yesterday they committed more fouls than baskets, 30-29. The Heat are in Cleveland tonight to take on the Cavs, and Dwyane Wade, Shane Battier, and Udonis Haslem not even making the trip. It is doubtful that LeBron plays against his former team tonight. Game time is 7:00 pm, and you can watch it on Sun Sports. The Heat return home to close out the regular season on Wednesday against the Orlando Magic at 8:00 pm.
In the rest of the NBA yesterday,
New York 90 Indiana 80
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points without even playing in the fourth quarter as the Knicks clinched the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia 91 Cleveland 77
Dorell Wright led six Philly players in double figures with 15 points.
Toronto 93 Brooklyn 87
DeMar DeRozan led the way with 36 points, Rudy Gay added 26 points and 10 rebounds.
Denver 110 Portland 109
Andre Iguodala had 28 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, three blocked shots, and three steals. Evan Fournier added 24 points for the Nuggets, who have won six out of seven and have a one-game lead in the race for the third seed in the Western Conference.
Dallas 107 New Orleans 89
Shawn Marion had 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 19 as the Mavs got back to the .500 mark for the first time since December.
Houston 121 Sacramento 100
James Harden scored 29 points, Jeremy Lin scored 11 of his 15 points in the decisive third quarter.
LA Lakers 91 San Antonio 86
After losing Kobe Bryant for the rest of the season with an Achiles injury, the Lakers got 26 points and 17 rebounds from Dwight Howard, while Steve Blake added 23 points.
Tonight in the NBA,
Miami @ Cleveland 7:00 pm Sun Sports
Chicago @ Orlando 7:00 pm
New York @ Charlotte 7:00 pm
Washington @ Brooklyn 7:30 pm
Philadelphia @ Detroit 7:30 pm
Denver @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm
Memphis @ Dallas 8:00 pm NBA-TV
Sacramento @ Oklahoma City 8:00 pm
Utah @ Minnesota 8:00 pm
Houston @ Phoenix 10:00 pm
San Antonio @ Golden State 10:30 pm NBA-TV
If the playoffs started today, these would be the match-ups:
Let’s get into a little bit of football. Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post brings us his Monday Morning notebook:
Volin also breaks down the history of the Dolphins in the draft by the numbers:
Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN has his latest “big board”, with his top 25 players. My take: Even if they don’t make any trades, the Dolphins will be able to get two players from this list.
Australian Adam Scott won the Masters tournament this weekend, defeating Argentinian Angel Cabrera in a playoff. Tiger Woods finished in fourth place, four strokes back at 5-under par.
In college baseball, FIU took two out of three from Louisiana-Monroe this past weekend, improving their record to 20-15, 8-7 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Panthers host Bethune Cookman tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm, and will head to Murfreesboro, TN to take on Middle Tennessee in a three-game series this coming weekend. The Hurricanes also took two out of three against Maryland up in College Park, MD this past weekend. The Canes are now 24-15, 8-10 in the ACC. They will host Bethune-Cookman on Wednesday, and will be at home this weekend to take on Clemson in a three-game.
Still nothing new to report from Westchester regarding the search for a new basketball head coach at FIU, but I am hearing that University of Alabama Assistant Coach Tony Pujol may be in the mix. That would be my pick for the job - a very successful and dynamic young assistant coach with a proven track record, good academic results, and even better . . . a Miami guy.
Here is the web site for all the latest in High School Baseball -
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: On Saturday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez became the first pitcher 20 years or younger to allow less than two runs and less than four hits in his first two starts in almost 50 years. Who was the last pitcher to accomplish the feat?
Rudy May of the Angels did it, and you have to go all the way back to 1965.
IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
No comments:
Post a Comment