Let’s go out to the ballparks.
The Marlins got another terrific performance from a starting pitcher last night, but, once again, it wasn’t enough. Henderson Alvarez allowed only two first-inning runs, and the anemic Marlins’ offense only managed to score one run, losing the Phillies, 2-1. The loss was also the 100th loss of the season for Jeffrey Loria’s sad sack team of Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Alvarez threw seven innings, gave up only five hits and struck out five. Tonight, the Fish will send Brad Hand to the mound and he will face Cole Hamels Game time tonight is 7:10 pm.
After a day off tomorrow, the Marlins will close out the regular season against the Detroit Tigers in a three-game weekend series. Go out to Marlins Park and show one last sign of support for the players, regardless of how you feel about the owner.
The Marlins are still the worst offensive team in the majors, and one of the worst in major league history. The Fish have been held to three runs or less 98 times this season, and their record in those 98 games is 18-80. Taking it one step further,
When scoring three runs in a game - 7-18
When scoring two runs in a game - 9-20
When scoring one run in a game - 2-24
Of course, they lead the majors in getting shutout, having been blanked 18 times so far this season.
The Marlins are still at the bottom of the list in runs scored this season in MLB, scoring only 503 runs in their 157 games, an obscene 3.2 runs per contest. Here is the complete list of the bottom-dwellers:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 58-100 504
Padres 73-84 585
White Sox 62-95 586
Cubs 65-93 596
Phillies 72-85 597
In contrast, the Boston Red Sox (95-63) lead MLB with 815 runs scored.
The Marlins are, once again, the butt of all jokes around MLB, thanks to their incompetent owner, Jeffrey Loria. Sources close to the Marlins are telling me that Larry Beinfest, Mike Hill, and even prodigal step-son David Samson will all be losing their jobs. (I’ll believe the Samsom one when I see it). Look for Dan Jennings to be named GM, President of Baseball Operations, Chief Minion, or whatever title Loria gives him, since he is one of Loria’s “yes-men”. Loria blames everything going on with the ball club on these three since, of course, Loria is above blame. How long can this continue to go on, and how long is MLB going to allow it?
Larry Beinfest says that the rumors are beginning to get to him:
Here are the capsules and summaries from all the games in the majors yesterday.
Today’s games around the majors,
Here is the complete, month-by-month 2014 schedule for the Marlins:
Great finish this season as we race towards the playoffs.
In the American League, the division races are officially over. The Wild Card is another story. Tampa Bay still leads Cleveland by one full game for the top spot, with the Texas Rangers one game behind the Indians. Kansas City is 4 games back of the second wild card spot.
Over in the National League, the only division that is yet to be decided is the Central, where the Cardinals lead the Pittsburgh Pirates by two games, and the Cincinnati Reds are now 3 games behind St. Louis. The Cardinals’ four remaining games are all at home: 1 more against the Nationals, and 3 against the Cubs. The Pirates are in Chicago to take on the Cubs this afternoon at 2:20, and will then hook up with the Reds in Cincinnati. The Reds are also at home for their remaining four games, one more with the Mets, before their three-game series with the Pirates.
In other baseball news, Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals became the third pitcher this season to lose a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning:
Manny Machado’s injury was a ligament tear and apparently could avoid surgery. He could be ready for opening day 2014:
Mariano Rivera always enters a game late for the New York Yankees. His bobblehead dolls did the same thing last night, arriving late at Yankee Stadium:
David Schoenfield of ESPN makes a case for Freddie Freeman as NL-MVP:
My vote would still go to Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Michael Wacha came close last night, but this isn’t his first rodeo. This season, Wacha has pitched at least seven innings while allowing two hits or less three times. He’s one of four active pitchers to have three such starts within the first 15 appearances in their major league career. Who are the other three? The answer comes later, alligator.
The Dolphins added some defensive line help, signing free agent tackle Marvin Austin, a former second-round pick of the New YorkGiants. Apparently the Fins have some concerns on the status of both Cameron Wake and Paul Soliai.
The Fins are searching for ways to be more effective against the run:
It doesn’t get any easier this coming week, as the Fins will travel to New Orleans for a Monday Night game against the Saints, who are also off to a 3-0 start.
In case you missed it, Payton Manning threw three touchdown passes to lead the Denver Broncos to a 37-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders. A late, meaningless touchdown by the Raiders made the game a PUSH against the spread, as Denver was favored by 16. That put me at 4-2-1 for the week in my picks, and 5-2 straight up. Good start to the season.
vs the Spread Straight Up Season Total
WEEK 1 3-2-1 4-2 ----- -----
WEEK 2 5-2 7-0 8-4-1 11-2
WEEK 3 4-2-1 5-2 12-6-2 16-4
Tomorrow, I will bring you detailed look at all the games along with my pick for Thursday’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams. For your listening and dancing pleasure, here are this week’s games, along with the opening Las Vegas lines:
Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with more news from all around the league:
Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.
The University of Miami Hurricanes are getting ready for their game on Saturday in Tampa against the University of South Florida. Game time is 12 noon, and you can watch the game on ESPN-U.
QB Stephen Morris is still hoping to be able to play this Saturday:
Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have all the latest from Coral Gables:
Coach Golden is optimistic and expects Morris to be back this week:
FIU will have a bye week this week, and the bye week is now favored to beat FIU by only 19 points. FIU’s next game will be in Hattiesburg, on Saturday, October 5th, against the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi.
Here’s the latest from FIU, courtesy of David J. Neal:
Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and FSU:
From Gainesville and the University of Florida:
Here are the NCAA Football rankings for this week and they include Florida State (#8), Miami (#15), and Florida (#20).
Here is the complete schedule in College Football for week 5, including TV:
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Michael Wacha came close last night, but this isn’t his first rodeo. This season, Wacha has pitched at least seven innings while allowing two hits or less three times. He’s one of four active pitchers to have three such starts within the first 15 appearances in their major league career. Who are the other three?
Travis Wood, Matt Harvey, and our old friend, Anibal Sanchez.
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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