Fish Wrap - Marlins 7, Mets 6
by GameFish on Apr 8, 2010 1:18 AM EDT
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It’s not every day a pitching staff coughs up a 6-1 lead, walks nine, balks in a run, and still walks away with a victory.
Apparently Wednesday was not every day.
The Marlins were back in action at Citi Field for game two of their series with the Mets, and after the disaster also referred to as Opening Day, I think the goal in mind for almost everyone on the team was "do the opposite of what I did on Monday." That strategy worked through six innings.
The Marlins lineup fared much better against John Maine than they did against Johan Santana. They tagged him for four runs in five innings, and between Maine and the Mets bullpen, the rest of the bats came out of hibernation.
Cantu was the first Fish to drive in a run this season, and he also became the first to go deep, homering off of Maine in the third inning. Hanley and Uggla added solo shots of their own, and every Marlins position player had at least one hit in the game.
In his first start of 2010, Ricky was "splendid" (to borrow Rich Waltz’s favorite adjective), and allowed three runs on 3 hits, walked 3, and struck out 5 Mets. It was also encouraging, after a rough go of things Monday, to see the Fish fielding their positions a little more neatly than they did on Opening day.
Things were going charmingly well, the season opener was being chalked up to rust and jitters, and with a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh, most fans had penciled in a "W" for Ricky and the Fish.
And then the rest of the game happened.
Ricky ran out of gas in the seventh. He walked off the mound with one on, two out, and a comfortable four-run lead, and thus the game became one giant blur of badness.
Renyel Pinto came in for Ricky, but rather than record the final out of the inning, he gave up a hit, struck a batter to load up the bases, and then walked in a run before he was replaced by Jose Veras. Veras didn’t fare much better than Pinto on the mound. His very first pitch was a wild, high fastball that got away from Baker and very nearly allowed a run to score. He managed to escape the seventh inning without allowing a run, but in the eighth Jose gave up two hits, walked two, and was tagged with three runs.
Then it was Leo Nunez who came in with two out in the 8th to attempt a 4-out save of the game, but what he accomplished instead was to walk two batters, balk in the tying run, and blow the save.
The defense also seemed to take its cue from the relievers, and got sloppy again after Ricky left the game. Uggla committed a throwing error trying to turn a double play, and Chris Coghlan inexplicably airmailed a throw to home plate that could have produced disastrous results.
By all accounts the Fish deserved to lose the game. But in the top of the 10th against Takahashi, Wes Helms singled, a sac bunt from Cogz moved him to second, and Ronny Paulino drove in Uncle Wes with a pinch hit single to reclaim the lead for the Fish.
With only a one-run lead to work with, Tim Wood did what our closer could not-- he came into the game and pitched a 1-2-3 inning, and recorded the very first save of his Major League career to even the Marlins record, and the series.
Whew.
Pat yourselves on the back, Fish fans. You’ve just survived your very first bullpen implosion of the season.
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Just a brutal showing by the pen
And can we give a second save to Baker; brilliant throw out on the wild pitch. 100 beers to him.
Thursday Picks
Work is starting to get in the way already. Psh.
33,500
Uggla
Marlins do NOT commit an error. (more of a wish than a pick but whatev)
my hatered towards Pinto grows more after every single game… why dont they just get rid of this bum already
Um, because he usually pitches better than that?
In case you didn’t notice, the entire bullpen pitched badly yesterday… are you going to say Pinto, who has reliably recorded an ERA in the mid-3s for the last four years and pitched effectively on Monday, is better than this chump Veras? If so, the stats say you’re wrong about that.
Pinto was better than Nunez last year too. And don’t even get me started on Clay Hensley.
Yeah, he walked a couple guys, and honestly, I’m not sure why we brought him in there before Meyer — especially with runners on base. But it’s symptomatic of you people’s weird obsession with Pinto that you’re piling on him when he wasn’t even our worst reliever yesterday. How about Veras? That guy was WAY worse, and he had a 5.19 ERA last year.
There are plenty of things to worry about in that bullpen — I’d put Veras ahead of Pinto, and Hensley, and if Nunez keeps closing, I’ll put him up there too. At least Pinto has a track record of being decent. Basically, the only two bullpen guys I trust right now are Meyer and Tim Wood… and I’m under a strong suspicion that I’m overestimating Tim Wood.
Bass is a kind of fish.
Not to stir the pot...
Where are all the people that defended Pinto in the off-season?
He looked as terrible last night as he did all last season.. and the one before that…still fans? He can’t pitch unless we are getting blown out. That is the one circumstance he actually does well in.
On a lighter note, I’m going to the game tonight. Black Cabrera spring training jersey or pinstriped Conine jersey?
Niner all the way
Chris Coghlan is NLRoY (that's a +1 for me!)
Miami Dolphins are headed back to the Playoffs (fail...)
Wants to see Mardy Gilyard in a Dolphins uniform next season, make it happen Parcells!
Thanks Everyone
I’m worried about the Conine because mets fans are obnoxious and I wouldn’t doubt getting stuff thrown on it (and it’s autographed).
I’ve decided to go retro, on LadyFish’s sentiment, run to my parent’s house and pick up my teal jersey. Sorry, it was option 3 I forgot to mention.
a win is a win
2009 NY Phin PhansFantasy League Champion
2009 Best Regular Season Record in NYPPL.
2010 The Jim Mandich NewsFlash Award Winner.
A little off topic but...
Does anyone remember a guy named dontrelle willis? Or as we reffered to him, D-Train. Well today will be probably one of the most important starts of his career because he needs to finally show he can handle the majors. I don’t know about you guys but I’m rooting for him. I love the D-Train! I hopehe prevails!
by Pepsidude95 on Apr 8, 2010 11:58 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
I picked him up on my fantasy team for this start because I am sure he’s going to do good. Willis is the man. I would love to have him as a Marlin again.
by Fluxuation on Apr 8, 2010 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
hell yes...
imagine Willis gets his some of his old stuff back and becomes our closer in the future (hey a fan can dream)
Thurs Picks
37013
HanRam
Bullpen gives up 0 ER
picks
38999
Cody
Hanley gets at least 2 hits, Cody gets at least 2 RBI’s, and Maybin gets on base at least 2 times.
in defense of pinto
the guy is actually pretty good. his K/9 & BAA are pretty superb for a middle reliever, and he has some… bad… outings like last night, but he’s one of our three best bullpen guys, easy. now maybe that says more about the bullpen than pinto, but he’s actually pretty okay.
the main problem last night was freddi leaving veras in the game for so long, or even bringing him in the game in the first place. tim wood should have come in three innings earlier.
by rayrayrayrayrayrayrayray on Apr 8, 2010 1:38 PM EDT reply actions
in offense of pinto
the K/9 might be OK for a middle reliever, however, that BB/9 rate is just as detrimental. Same goes for Nunez. Who didn’t see the blown save coming his way? The one thing Tim Wood did that no other reliever earlier did was pound the strike zone. Obviously drawing too many conclusions from one game which is prone to happen 2 games in the season (THANK GOD IT’S BACK!!!), but we knew the bullpen was gonna be a liability coming into the season.
and my inaugural picks for tonight’s game… it seems like it’s attendance, who we feel will be player of the game, and then some sort of bold prediction (correct me if i’m wrong).
32,000
Danny Boy
A much shorter game than last night (god willing)
Who cares if Pinto walks some guys...
…the guy doesn’t allow hits. And he basically NEVER allows extra-base hits. Between his strikeouts and his skill at holding runners (base stealers are a career 5-14 against him), he’s generally got a very good chance of getting out of the inning without letting those walks hurt him.
Obviously, last night wasn’t a good outing for him (…or either of the guys who followed him), but in a usual outing for Pinto, he goes out there, walks a guy, and strands him. No harm done.
Now, I don’t say he’s better than Meyer. Not sure why he went out there ahead of Meyer.
And I also don’t believe he should be brought in with multiple runners on base and 3 outs to get — he does need a certain margin of error to work with.
But as the stats show, he can be an effective reliever if the team plays to his strengths (striking out guys, not giving up solid hits) and puts him in situations where his weaknesses (control, control again) can be worked around. Fredi didn’t do that last night. But then he put in Veras, so why are we even worrying about what Pinto is/isn’t doing? Veras isn’t even a major-league pitcher.
Bass is a kind of fish.
I will always counter your argument here 3.3
His numbers need to be split between starting an inning, and inheriting runners – Inherited Runners don’t count against his ERA and that is the situation he comes in 7/10 I would say. He is nowhere near the top 50 in stranding inherited runners (not that I’m touting any of our other relievers for this duty (I miss Kiko)).
Well, he shouldn't come in with inherited runners.
He should come in to start an inning. Meyer should come in with inherited runners. (Unless it’s a situation where a home run would be specifically disastrous… Meyer allows too many of those.)
Bass is a kind of fish.
Still, he's kinda right...
If only Fredi could be trained to manage like that, it seems like that’d be a little over his head. And I just looked at Veras’ stats from his career…. and yuck. I think they may have reached a bit too deep in the scraps bin this offseason.
Welcome to Ichthyomancy!
You’ve basically got it right, but you may need to be a bit more specific with your AAB pick if you want to get points for it. You can read about the rules of Ichthy here.
Good luck!
thurs picks
37470
hanley
3,4,5 hitters all get hits
...
The only thing worse than not hearing Marlins talk on the radio down here is actually hearing Marlins talk on the radio. These guys are either clueless are blatant Yankees/Mets fans.
I recently discovered that Eddie Kaplan is back on the radio however. I just wish I could pick it up better down here in Dade.
Picks
39,103
Nate the Fate
Maybin ≥ 1 HR (I still believe)
Thursday picks!
35791
Uggla
A Marlins relief pitcher gets the win.
Bass is a kind of fish.
Hayden "fuel to the fire" Penn
just came on for the Pirates and promptly gave up 3 base hits in a row. No wonder he was on the waiver wire at the end of March, huh?
When the roof happens, it will rain. For now, we can enjoy games at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin/Landshark/Sun Life/[your name here] Stadium.
I don’t recall Penn throwing any wild pitches, but he did give up consecutive runs to 2 batters, going from memory. Basically, erase his appearance and … the Pirates prolly still would have lost. :-)
When the roof happens, it will rain. For now, we can enjoy games at Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphins/Dolphin/Landshark/Sun Life/[your name here] Stadium.
I guess I'll make picks
39000
Nate the Great (wishful thinking)
Marlins don’t allow a hit in at least 4 innings
You are...
…but if just one of them is wrong and the other two are right you still get zero points. you gotta get them all right to get all the points.
Series Finale Picks
37,941
Hensley (When I pick starters, they have bad games)
Marlins’ pinch hitters and substitutes: 2+ hits
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