Let’s go out to the ballparks.
Adeiny Hechavarria drove in all three runs, connecting a two-run triple in the second inning, and then driving in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning with a fielder’s choice grounder. The 24-year-old Cuban shortstop has enjoyed playing against the Phillies this year --- 12 of his 42 RBI this season have come against Philadelphia. Closer Steve Chisek set a Marlins team record, converting his 28th consecutive save opportunity. Chisek now has 33 saves this season.
The Marlins will enjoy a day off today, ad 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 probable pitchers for this series:
FRIDAY Tom Koehler vs Rick Porcello 7:10 pm
SATURDAY Anibal Sanchez vs Nathan Eovaldi 7:10 pm
SUNDAY Justin Verlander vs Henderson Alvarez 1:10 pm
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 99 times this season, and their record in those 99 games is 19-80. Taking it one step further,
When scoring three runs in a game - 8-18
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 507 runs in their 159 games, an obscene 3.18 runs per contest. Here is the complete list of the bottom-dwellers:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 59-100 507
White Sox 62-96 588
Padres 74-84 597
Phillies 72-86 599
Cubs 66-93 600
In contrast, the Boston Red Sox (96-63) lead MLB with 830 runs scored.
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:
The American League Wild Card is still a race. Tampa Bay still leads Cleveland by one full game for the top spot, with the Texas Rangers remaining one game behind the Indians as all three teams won last night. Tampa Bay has four games left, one against the Yankees tonight, and then they head to Toronto to close out the regular season with a three-game set against the Blue Jays. Cleveland has a four-game series in Minnesota against the Twins, and the Rangers also have four games left, all of them in Arlington, against the Angels. This one will probably go down to the last day.
Over in the National League, the only division that is yet to be “officially” decided is the Central, where the Cardinals now lead the Pittsburgh Pirates by three games with three games to play. Do the math. The Cardinals’ three remaining games are all at home against the Cubs. The Pirates will hook up with the Reds in Cincinnati to basically decide who will host the wild card playoff game. If the Pirates and the Reds end up tied, the Reds would host the wild card game, by virtue of winning the season series between the teams.
The battle for the best record in the American League is still not decided, but the Red Sox have a firm grasp of it. With three games left, Boston has a two game cushion over the Oakland A’s and three games over Detroit. In the battle for the best record in the national league, St. Louis has three games left and they have a half-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, who have four games remaining, all at home, against the Philadelphia Phillies.
In other baseball news, Robinson Cano says he is going to take his time in making a decision in free agency:
The Hard Rock Cafe will retire “Enter Sandman” by Metallica from its song system at all locations, except at theHard Rock Cafe Yankee Stadium.
Orioles’ third baseman Manny Machado is feeling a lot better:
David Schoenfield of ESPN offers us his list of the top ten decisions this year in MLB:
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Let’s stay with the Michael Wacha one-hitter day before yesterday. The Cardinals’ rookie became the third pitcher this season to lose a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. Who threw the last no hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals? The answer comes later, alligator.
Week Four of the NFL season kicks off tonight in St. Louis, when the Rams host the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are favored by 3 in this contest, but hold on for just a minute.
Here is the complete schedule for this week in the NFL:
TONIGHT
San Francisco @ St. Louis +3 1/2 8:30 pm NFL Network
These 49ers aren’t playing like last year’s Super Bowl runner-ups, and we should also remember that last season, the Rams went 4-1-1 against their Western Division opponents, including a win and a tie against the 49ers. It seems that San Francisco has fallen back towards the rest of the pack so far this season, losing two games in a row, while Colin Kaepernick has looked pretty bad, with no TD’s and four interceptions in those two losses, in which SF was outscored by a combined 56-10 by the Seattle Seahawks and the Indianapolis Colts. On the other side of the field, Rams QB Sam Bradford is 2-0 against the 49ers in his career at home. I’m not enamored with this game, and I realize I may be skating on thin ice on this one. I will go with the Rams and take the 3 1/2 points.
The rest of the picks will be here tomorrow:
SUNDAY
Baltimore @ Buffalo +4 1:00 pm CBS
Cincinnati @ Cleveland +4 1:00 pm CBS
Pittsburgh @ Minnesota +2 (LONDON) 1:00 pm CBS
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville +10 1:00 pm CBS
Arizona @ Tampa Bay -3 1:00 pm FOX
Seattle @ Houston +3 1:00 pm FOX
Chicago @ Detroit -2 1:00 pm FOX
NY Giants @ Kansas City -5 1:00 pm FOX
NY Jets @ Tennessee -4 4:05 pm CBS
Philadelphia @ Denver -10 4:25 pm FOX
Washington @ Oakland -3 4:25 pm FOX
Dallas @ San Diego +1 4:25 pm FOX
New England @ Atlanta -1 8:30 pm NBC
MONDAY
MIAMI @ New Orleans -7 8:30 pm ESPN
I went 4-2-1 last week in my picks vs. the spread, 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
It will definitely not be easy this week for the Dolphins against the New Orleans Saints.
Paul Soleai and Cameron Wake participated in individual drills only in yesterday’s Dolphins’ practice.
The Fins will take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night. Game time is 8:30 pm and you can watch it on ESPN.
In other NFL news, the league is getting closer to putting a team in England:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers benched their starting QB, Josh Freeman:
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 15th-ranked 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.
Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have all the latest from Coral Gables:
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 results in College Football for week 4:
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Let’s stay with the Michael Wacha one-hitter day before yesterday. The Cardinals’ rookie became the third pitcher this season to lose a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. Who threw the last no hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals?
Only diehard Cardinal fans are going to remember this guy - - - Bud Smith, who no hit the San Diego Padres back on September 3, 2001.
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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