Tuesday, September 3, 2013


I have some tickets to Marlins games this coming homestand against the Nationals and against the Braves.  Please let me know via e-mail or via private message if you would like some tickets.

NOTE:  My fearless weekly predictions and stone-cold lock picks for the NFL season will be here on Thursday’s edition of the blog.  

After losing two of three against the Braves over the weekend, the Marlins went to Chicago to take on the Cubs in a three-game series.  Henderson Alvarez gave up a quick three runs in the first inning, but that was all the Cubs were going to get.  Alvarez also made up for that brief hiccup and hit a three-run homer in the second inning to lead the Marlins to the 4-3 win.  Alvarez had to leave after the sixth inning with tightness in his hamstring. Christian Yelich added a solo homer and the Fish won their second consecutive game after losing six in a row.  Tonight, at 8:05 pm, the Marlins will send Tom Koehler to the mound against Edwin Jackson.  On Wednesday afternoon, at 2:20, Brian Flynn will make his major league debut for the Marlins against Jeff Samardzija.  The Fish will have an off day on Thursday, and return to Miami to take on the Nationals at Marlins Park on Friday.  Jose Fernandez will start on Friday in what will probably be his next to last start of the season.  

The Marlins are still the worst offensive team in the majors.  This is the sorry reality:  The Marlins have now been held to three runs or less 87 times this season, and their record in those 87 games is 17-70. Taking it one step further,

When scoring three runs in a game - 6-16
When scoring two runs in a game - 9-17
When scoring one run in a game - 2-21

Of course, they lead the majors in getting shutout, having been blanked 16 times so far this season. Ouch.

The Fish are still at the bottom of the list in runs scored in MLB, with 435 runs in their 136 games, an underwhelming 3.19 runs per game.  Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:

TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 51-85 435
White Sox 56-80 514
Giants 61-76 517
Phillies 63-75 520
Padres 61-76 524

In contrast, the Detroit Tigers (81-57) lead MLB with 702 runs scored and the Boston Red Sox (82-57) have plated 698.  The Sox have played 1 more game than the Tigers. 

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

Braves 13 Mets 5
Freddie Freeman homered and finished with five RBI.  Jordan Schafer added four hits, drove in a run, scored two, and stole three bases.  Atlanta lead the NL East by a whopping 15 games over the Washington Nationals, and their magic number is down to 11 games.

Reds 7 Cardinals 2
The Reds continued to beat up on Adam Wainwright.  Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto both connected long distance and Mat Latos improved to 14-5, scattering just four hits in his first complete game of the season.

Pirates 5 Brewers 2
Neil Walker blasted a three-run homer in the seventh inning as the Pirated took over sole possession of first place in the NL Central.  

Dodgers 10 Rockies 8
Hanley Ramirez’ sacrifice fly broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning and Andre Ethier homered and finished with three RBI.

Padres 4 Giants 1
Ian Kennedy won for the third time in four games since being traded to San Diego.  Nick Hundley connected long distance in the win.

Blue Jays 4 D-Backs 1
Edwin Encarnacion blasted his 35th home run of the season in support of Esmil Rogers, who gave up only one hit in 6 1/3 innings of work.

Phillies 3 Nationals 2
Carlos Ruiz drove in the tie-breaking run in a two-run eighth inning.

Over in the American League,

Tigers 3 Red Sox 0
Doug Fister threw seven shutout innings and Andy Dirks drove in the first run of the game in the seventh with a run scoring triple.  

Yankees 9 White Sox 1
David Huff tossed 5 2/3 innings of 1-run relief after a 1 hour and 53 minute rain delay in the top of the second.  Derek Jeter went 2-4 with 2 RBI, and Austin Romine also drove home a pair of runs.

Twins 10 Astros 6
Chris Colabello hit two homers, including his first career grand slam in the ninth inning.

Royals 3 Mariners 1
Will Smith struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings of stellar relief.

A’s 4 Rangers 2
Coco Crisp hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth inning and Yoenis Cespedes also connected long distance.  The A’s and the Rangers are once again tied atop the AL West.

Orioles 7 Indians 2
Matt Wieters had four hits, including a two-run homer and Nate McLouth also homered and finished with four RBI.

Angels 11 Rays 2
Erick Aybar had a two-run homer and a two-run triple.  The Rays have lost five in a row and eight out of their last nine, and only lead the chase for the second wild card slot by two games over the Orioles and 2 1/2 games over the Yankees.

Today in MLB, in the National League,

Nationals @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Gio Gonzalez vs Ethan Martin

Mets @ Braves 7:10 pm
Carlos Torres vs Kris Medlen

Cardinals @ Reds 7:10 pm
Michael Wacha vs Homer Bailey

Marlins @ Cubs 8:05 pm
Tom Koehler vs Edwin Jackson

Pirates @ Brewers 8:10 pm
Gerrit Cole vs Yovani Gallardo

Dodgers @ Rockies 8:40 pm
Ricky Nolasco vs Jhoulys Chacin

Blue Jays @ D-backs 9:40 pm
Todd Redmond vs Wade Miley

Giants @ Padres                  10:10 pm
Madison Bumgarner vs Robbie Erlin

Over in the American League,

Orioles @ Indians 7:05 pm
Chris Tillman vs Ubaldo Jimenez

White Sox @ Yankees 7:05 pm
Chris Sale vs Hiroki Kuroda

Tigers @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Max Scherzer vs Jon Lester

Twins @ Astros 8:10 pm
Pedro Hernandez vs Jarred Cosart

Mariners @ Royals 8:10 pm
Erasmo Ramirez vs Bruce Chen

Rangers @ A’s                   10:05 pm
Martin Perez vs Bartolo Colon

Rays @ Angels                  10:05 pm
Matt Moore vs Jason Vargas

Miguel Cabrera is resting his abdominal injury, but it doesn’t keep him from singing:


In what seems to be a daily thing, Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias had the play of the day:


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


Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:


Here are all the results from this past week’s games in college football:


Here is this week’s complete schedule:


After beating up on Florida Atlantic, the Canes will meet the Florida Gators this saturday at noon at the Seven Names Stadium.  The Gators will be more of a test than the Owls. ESPN will carry the game, starting at 12 noon.  Tailgate parties will begin at around 4:00 am.  

The Herald’s Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have the latest scoop from the University of Miami:


The FIU Panthers were crushed by Maryland last Saturday, 43-10, and this week will take on Central Florida here at FIU Stadium on Friday.  Game time is at 8:00 pm, and it will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network on your cable or satellite system.  Looks like it is going to be a LOOONG season at FIU.

Here’s the latest news from Westchester:



Memo to all:  FSU’s trouncing of Pittsburgh last night showed the world that freshman QB, “Famous” Jameis Winston, who totalled five TD’s in the game, could be the real deal.  Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and FSU:


From Gainesville and the University of Florida:


The Dolphins kick off their regular season this Sunday in Cleveland against the Browns.  Game time is 1:00 pm, and you can watch the game on CBS.

Lamar Miller will start at running back for the Dolphins.  Here’s the complete story:


Top pick Dion Jordan is expected to play significant role this week, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald:


The NFL Season gets under way on Thursday, in Denver, as the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens take on Payton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  Game time is 8:30 pm and NBC will handle the telecast.  BTW, when was the last time you saw the defending Super Bowl champion as a 9 1/2 point underdog in week one of the following season?

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  We are ready for the beginning of the NFL season on Thursday in Denver, as the Broncos take on the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens.  We know it is only one game, but winning the opener seems to be important.  In the last ten years, only one AFC team that lost their first game managed to advance to the Super Bowl.  Who was that team?  The answer comes later, alligator.   

Here is the complete schedule for week 1 in the NFL:

Thursday

Baltimore @ Denver - 9 /12 NBC

Sunday

1:00 pm

MIAMI @ Cleveland - 2 CBS

New England @ Buffalo + 9 1/2 CBS

Cincinnati @ Chicago - 3 CBS

Oakland @ Indianapolis - 10 CBS

Kansas City @ Jacksonville - 3 1/2 CBS

Tennessee @ Pittsburgh - 7 CBS

Seattle @ Carolina - 3 FOX

Minnesota @ Detroit - 4 1/2 FOX

Atlanta @ New Orleans - 3 FOX

Tampa Bay @ NY Jets + 3 FOX

4:25 pm

Green Bay @ San Francisco - 4 1/2 FOX

Arizona @ St. Louis - 4 1/2 FOX

8:30 pm

NY Giants @ Dallas - 3 NBC

Monday Night

7:00 pm

Philadelphia @ Washington - 3 1/2 ESPN

10:20 pm

Houston @ San Diego + 3 ESPN

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


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

Congratulations to the Miami Herald.  Someone came to their senses and we again have Santos Perez and his weekly boxing column on Mondays.  IT WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME.


After five tries, Diana Nyad completed her swim from Cuba to Key West, mind you, without a shark cage.  Here’s the full story and pix from Yahoo! Sports:


In the sad conclusion to a very sad story, former boxing champ Tommy Morrison died at the age of 44.


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NOTE TO ALL KIDS AGES 5-16:

RedZone Sports has a 5-on-5 Youth Basketball League at Bowman Ashe / Doolin, located at 6401 S. W. 152nd Avenue.  The league starts September 14th, but early registration ends September 7th.  For more information, contact Feli Villalba at (305) 218-4196 or via e-mail at fvillalba@redzonesports.org

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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: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  As we get ready for the beginning of the NFL season on Thursday in Denver, as the Broncos take on the defending Super Bowl Champions, the Baltimore Ravens.  We know it is only one game, but winning the opener seems to be important.  In the last ten years, only one AFC team that lost their first game managed to advance to the Super Bowl.  Who was that team?

The 2003 Patriots, who were shut out by the Buffalo Bills in their first game of the season, 31-0.  BTW, the Pats recovered nicely, finishing the regular season 14-2 and beating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, 32-29.

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 

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