Your Florida Marlins last night finished their interleague series with the Baltimore Orioles. It was a series filled with ups, downs, stranded runners, bullpen implosions, and people getting fired. You know, just a typical week in the wacky world of Florida Marlins baseball! Here's how it all went down:
Game 1 -- Marlins 10, Orioles 4: Who knew this would be Fredi Gonzalez's requiem? Other than Jeffrey Loria, of course. Ten runs by the Fish and no bullpen shenanigans. Hanley Ramirez's bat finally woke up. And while it was against Baltimore pitching, it still counts. A three-hit, three-RBI night for Hanley meant no wasted at-bats by the likes of Chris Coghlan, who scored twice and drove in a run himself. And on the other side of things, Anibal Sanchez continues to bean mediocrity in the face with yet another solid outing. Sanchez pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and three runs. Not great, but solid enough. Sanchez is now 7-3. And, oh hey, the bullpen gave up only one run. Other than possibly pissing in the clubhouse coffee, it was a nice way for Fredi to go out.
Game 2 -- Marlins 7, Orioles 5: The Miami Herald reports the
Marlins will offer former Mets manager, former Japanese league
Chiba Lotte Marines manager, and former fake-mustache-and-glasses-wearer
Bobby Valentine a four-year deal to be their new manager. The contract
could be signed as soon as today. No word on whether Valentine will bring
any of his Japanese pitchers with him to help the bullpen. Which means
not much will change on the field even with a big-name manager like
Valentine onboard. But, hey, you got a free vuvuzela, so quit your
bitching!
Game 3 -- Marlins 5, Orioles 11: Nate Robertson gave up five runs in just
two-and-a-third innings. The bullpen was all, "Hey, that's our job!" and
proceeded to give up another five runs in relief. Miguel Tejada did the
most damage, getting four hits off the Marlins, including a home run,
and driving in five RBI for Baltimore. By the end of the night, Marlins
fans were left asking themselves how the Fish were unable to sweep the
worst team in the league. They were also left asking themselves: "Miguel
Tejada is still alive?"
Highlights: Hanley Ramirez finally could be coming around. Maybe Fredi
being gone will free the kid up to do what he does best. And maybe
having Bobby Valentine around will loosen Hanley up so he can be free to
mash the ball and lollygag on defense at will.
Lowlights: Fredi's firing. This week's other lowlight: The return of
Armando Benitez. Although you can also classify this as a highlight for
fans of pitchers who spontaneously combust during games. The vuvuzela
giveaway gets honorable mention.
Up next: The Marlins host the San Diego Padres this weekend. Also up
next, fake mustache and glasses!
