Fish Cap: Miami Marlins 2, Atlanta Braves 3

Source: FanGraphs

On Tuesday the Miami Marlins had their second home game of the season. Wade LeBlanc faced Kris Medlen and the Atlanta Braves as the Fish looked for their second win of the season.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, their pursuit of win number two would be greatly inconvenienced by a first inning home run by Evan Gattis putting the Braves up 2-0 before the Marlins even got a chance to bat. Batting would prove to be, yet again, the big issue for the Marlins. After the first inning, Wade Leblanc settled in allowing just six hits, two runs, one walk and striking out five in six innings. After LeBlanc, the Marlins sent out A.J. Ramos for two innings in which he struck out three Braves while allowing two hits and one run. Jon Rauch came in to pitch the top of the ninth and he set the Braves down in order. The three strikeouts by Ramos have to be something of a silver lining for the pitching staff, as Ramos figures to be a member of the Marlins bullpen for a few years yet and the strikeouts show he can get major league hitters out.

Offensively, the Marlins of April 9, 2013 were exactly like what we have seen over the entire existence of the 2013 Marlins. After falling behind 2-0 in the first the Marlins responded to bring it within one after a Rob Brantly sacrifice fly in the second inning. The Marlins actually managed to get runners aboard in six innings, but it was not until the eighth inning that the Fish managed to get another runner across the plate, thanks to a Placido Polanco single. Then in the ninth the Braves sent out super-closer Craig Kimbrel who started out the inning with a walk to Donovan Solano but recovered and subdued the Marlins, securing the Marlins 2-3 loss.

Today the Marlins will close out their first home series of 2013 and hopefully cap things off with a win. By Michael's approximation, the Marlins will need 30 #minorvictories to make one real victory, so I expect at least 31 #minorvictories mentioned in today's game thread.