Monday, August 12, 2013


The Marlins managed to temporarily stop the train that is the Atlanta Braves, but only on Saturday.  The Braves took two out of three against the Fish, losing only on Saturday, by a 1-0 score.  Yesterday, Freddie Freeman blasted a three-run homer and Atlanta got run-scoring doubles from Evan Gattis and Chris Johnson in a four-run seventh inning to beat the Marlins 9-4, their 15th win in the last 16 games.  Fredi Gonzalez’ Braves have the best record in baseball at 72-46 and lead the NL East by a whopping 14 1/2 games over the Washington Nationals.  The Marlins fell for the seventh time in their last eight encounters and they begin a three-game series tonight in Kansas City against the red-hot Royals, who are 16-3 in their last 19 games.  The probable pitchers for the series in KC are:

TONIGHT Tom Koehler vs Wade Davis 8:10 pm
TUESDAY Jose Fernandez vs Bruce Chen 8:10 pm
WEDNESDAY Jacob Turner vs Ervin Santana 2:10 pm

The Fish will return to South Florida on Wednesday, and enjoy a day off on Thursday, before taking on the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series at Marlins Park starting on Friday.  Following the Giants, the Fish will host the LA Dodgers in a four-game series, and then the Colorado Rockies will be in Miami for another four-game set.  

The Fish are still at the bottom of the list in runs scored in MLB, with 368 runs in their 116 games, and underwhelming 3.17 runs per game.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 44-72 368
White Sox 44-72 425
Giants 52-65 438
Yankees 59-57 440
Nationals 57-60 442

In contrast, the Boston Red Sox (71-49) lead the majors with 605 runs in 120 games (5.04 runs per game).  The Detroit Tigers (69-47) have scored 598 runs in 116 games (5.16 runs per game).

Dave Cameron of ESPN says that Marlins phenom Jose Fernandez is the best 20-year-old pitcher in a generation:


In the Major Leagues yesterday, first in the National League,

Reds 3 Padres 2 (13 innings)
Xavier Paul tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Joey Votto ended it with a sacrifice fly in the 13th.
The Reds won their fourth game in the last five.

Cardinals 8 Cubs 4
The Cards ended a four-game losing streak as Matt Carpenter, Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig, and Matt Holliday combined for nine hits and five RBI.

Orioles 10 Giants 2
JJ Hardy hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning and Adam Jones hit a three-run blast and finished with four RBI.  The O’s have won four out of their last five.

Mariners 2              Brewers 0
Felix Hernandez threw eight scoreless innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight decisions, and shrank his ERA to 2.28.  Justin Smoak homered for the Mariners in the win.

Rockies 3 Pirates 2
Nolan Arenado drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Mets 9 D-Backs 5
Andrew Brown hit a pinch-hit three-run homer.  Wilmer Flores also connected long distance.

Nationals 6 Phillies 0
Stephen Strasburg threw the first complete game shutout of his career, striking out 10 and giving up only four hits and a walk.  Jayson Werth had three hits for the Nats, who swept the three-game series with the Phillies.

Dodgers 8               Rays 2
Clayton Kershaw pitched eight innings and had a two-run single.  Mark Ellis hit a two-run homer, and the Dodgers are 37-8 since June 22.

Over in the American League,

Indians 6 Angels 5
Michael Bourn drove in the deciding run with a single in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Yankees 5 Tigers 4
Brett Gardner hit the walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.  Alex Rodriguez also homered in the game, his first home run in almost a year.  Alfonso Soriano also connected long distance, his 2,000th career hit.  Mariano Rivera gave up home runs to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the ninth inning and blew his third consecutive save.  The Tigers had won 12 in a row before losing two out of three to the Yankees.

A’s 6 Blue Jays 4
Alberto Callaspo hit the go-ahead two-run double in a three-run eighth inning to rally the A’s.

Twins 5 White Sox 2
Kevin Correia threw seven shutout innings and Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer connected long distance.

Royals 4 Red Sox 3
Alex Gordon went 3-4 with a home run.  The Royals have won 16 out of their last 19 games.

Rangers 6 Astros 1
Martin Perez threw the complete game and Alex Rios went 2-4 with an RBI double and two runs scored.

Today in MLB, in the National League,

Phillies @ Braves 7:10pm
Cole Hamels vs Julio Teheran

Reds @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Mat Latos vs Travis Wood

Padres @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Edinson Volquez vs Jhoulys Chacin

Orioles @ D-Backs 9:40 pm
Scott Feldman vs Wade Miley

Mets @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Jenrry Mejia vs Ricky Nolasco

Over in the American League,

A’s @ Blue Jays        12:37 pm
Dan Straily vs JA Happ

Rangers @ Astros      2:10 pm
Yu Darvish vs Brett Oberholtzer

Angels @ Yankees     7:05 pm
Garrett Richards vs Hiroki Kuroda

Indians @ Twins       8:10 pm
Danny Salazar vs Andrew Albers

Tigers @ White Sox 8:10 pm
Doug Fister vs Chris Sale

Marlins @ Royals      8:10 pm
Tom Koehler vs Wade Davis

Here are the latest trade rumors around the majors:


Here is ESPN chiming in with their gossip:


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Mariano Rivera blew his third consecutive save opportunity yesterday, but the Yankees were able to bail him out twice this weekend and ended up winning both games.  How many times has Rivera blown three consecutive save chances in his HOF career?  The answer comes later, alligator.   

Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


In other news from around baseball,

David Schoenfeld of ESPN tries to decide on the best rookie:  Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers or Wil Myers of the Tampa Bay Rays:


First baseman Jose Dariel Abreu joins the list of Cuban players to try and head to the Majors:


Jerry Crasnick of ESPN talks about the Kansas City Royals, who are making a real push for the playoffs this season. 


News from the gridiron . . .

The University of Miami Hurricanes are practicing in preparation for this upcoming season.  Here is today’s Miami Herald daily report:


The Canes added three players to the roster as three transfer players were cleared to join the team:


It is “All in the Family” at the U, as Fox Sports introduces us to Ray Lewis III:


Here’s David Neal’s report from FIU:


Neal also talks about new FIU verbal commitments:


In Dolphin and NFL news, the Dolphins beat up the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday night, 27-3.  An overall good performance by the team on both sides of the ball, but we need to remember that they were playing against one of the worst teams in the NFL.  A much more difficult test comes this coming Saturday night in Houston against the Texans.  Channel 4 in Miami will handle the telecast this week, game time is 8:00 pm.

Here are this past week’s results in the NFL preseason:

THURSDAY

Baltimore Ravens 44 Tampa Bay Bucs 16
Cincinnati Bengals 34 Atlanta Falcons 10
Cleveland Browns 27 St. Louis Rams 19
Washington Redskins 22       Tennessee Titans 21
Denver Broncos 10 San Francisco 49ers 6   
Seattle Seahawks 31 San Diego Chargers 10

FRIDAY

Miami Dolphins 27 Jacksonville Jaguars 3
Detroit Lions 26 NY Jets 17
New England Patriots 31 Philadelphia Eagles 22
Arizona Cardinals 17 Green Bay Packers 0
Houston Texans 27 Minnesota Vikings 13
New Orleans Saints 17 Kansas City 13
Carolina Panthers 24             Chicago Bears 17
Oakland Raiders 19 Dallas Cowboys 17

SATURDAY

NY Giants 18 Pittsburgh Steelers 13

SUNDAY

Buffalo Bills 44                    Indianapolis Colts20

Here are the details and summaries from this week’s games:


Here is Armando Salguero’s Dolphin report from the Miami Herald:


The Herald reports that new Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace is playing a game of “Where’s Waldo?”:


The Palm Beach Post reports that the Dolphins may have found the answer to their short-yardage running back situation:


What’s up with the Dolphins tight ends?  Here’s the latest from the Sun Sentinel:


Rookie kicker Caleb Sturgis is putting pressure on veteran Dan Carpenter for the Dolphins’ placekicker job:


Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with news from all around the league:


Yahoo! Sports talks about some of the ongoing QB battles around the NFL:


We can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.  

In the NBA, Israel Gutierrez of ESPN.com is already bubbling in anticipation for the 2013-2014 NBA season:


So, can Michael Jordan still dunk at the age of 50?


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I’m selling three lots totaling a little over five acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  Mariano Rivera blew his third consecutive save opportunity yesterday, but the Yankees were able to bail him out twice this weekend and ended up winning both games.  How many times has Rivera blown three consecutive save chances in his HOF career?

How about . . . . . NEVER.       

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio 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

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