Heroes And Zeroes: Phillies 7, Marlins 3

Heroes and Zeroes is a series where I take each players contribution to the final result (based on weighted plate appearances) of the ballgame. Each participant in the matchup is ranked from best to worst. The top three are "Heroes," the bottom three are "Zeroes." I used the win expectancy chart from www.fangraphs.com to rank these players.

Heroes

Ryan Howard (PHI) .463

Howard, batting sixth, drew a walk to open his night with one out in the second inning (+2.6%). later scoring the first run of the game on Freddie Galvis' blast. He singled to left with one out and a man on first down by 2-1 in the fourth (+3.1%). The biggest single occurence of the game came with two out and one on in the sixth, when Howard tattooed a long ball of his own, scoring Cody Asche (+40.6%). The big hit gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead which they would not relinquish, and included the eventual game winning RBI. Howard struck out swinging to Nick Masset for the second out of the ninth (-0.1%).

Dee Gordon (MIA) .182

Gordon grounded out to second base leading off the game (-2.1%). With two out and the bases empty in the third, he beat out a bang-bang throw from shortstop for an infield hit (+1.3%). With two out and a man on second with a tie score in the fifth, Gordon reached (+15.1%) on Howard's error, which scored Adeiny Hechavarria. Of course, Gordon did not earn an RBI on the play, and Howard's WPA was not penalized (Jerome Williams' was). It may be the glaring deficiency of WPA, in that fielding errors are not accounted for. Gordon singled to right with one out in the seventh, down 4-3 (+4.9%), then ended the game with a groundout to short (-0.1%).

Freddie Galvis (PHI) .162

Galvis smacked a two-run homer over the right field wall with two out in the second inning (+22.2%) for Philadelphia's first lead of the night. He flew out to right to end the fourth (-4.4%) and led off the seventh with a groundout to third base (-1.6%).

Almost Heroes

Ben Revere (PHI) .120

Luis Garcia (PHI) .089

Adeiny Hechavarria (MIA) .069

Ichiro Suzuki (MIA) .061

Giancarlo Stanton (MIA) .039

Jeff Francoeur (PHI) .034

JT Realmuto (MIA) .025

Minimal Impact

Ken Giles (PHI) .017

Jonathan Papelbon (PHI) .011

Nick Masset (MIA) .002

Darren Ruf (PHI) .000

Reid Brignac (MIA) -.003

Michael Morse (MIA) -.014

Odubel Herrera (PHI) -.018

Almost Zeroes

Carlos Ruiz (PHI) -.027

Cody Asche (PHI) -.030

Donovan Solano (MIA) -.042

Marcell Ozuna (MIA) -.052

Grady Sizemore (PHI) -.069

Chase Utley (PHI) -.070

Martin Prado (MIA) -.084

Zeroes

Mike Dunn (MIA) -.166

Dunn pitched the seventh inning with a one-run deficit. He allowed a single (-3.9%), a double (-3.4%), a triple (-10.2%), and a sacrifice fly (-0.9%) for three runs in the frame and the final 7-3 margin.

Jerome Williams (PHI) -.182

Williams pitched six innings, allowing a walk and eight hits. Of the three runs he allowed, two were earned, including Giancarlo Stanton's big blast in the fourth (-11.3%). At the plate, he struck out swinging to end the second (-0.6%) and struck out swinging to lead off the fifth (-3.3%).

Dan Haren (MIA) -.517

Haren really didn't have a bad night by his conventional statline, going six innings and allowing three walks and four hits. He struck out seven, but earned his spot as the final zero with one Ryan Howard flavored mistake (-40.4%). He also didn't do himself any favors at the plate, flying out to left with one out in the third (-1.5%) and grounding into a double play with no outs and runners at first and second with a tie score in the fifth (-14.1%).

Last 10 Games

Dee Gordon	0.445
Giancarlo Stanton	0.221
Adieny Hechavarria	0.155
AJ Ramos	0.129
Ichiro Suzuki	0.105
Marcell Ozuna	0.097
Reid Brignac	0.075
Martin Prado	0.026
Steve Cishek	0.012
Carter Capps	0.009
Nick Masset	0.002
Don Kelly	-0.017
David Phelps	-0.018
Bryan Morris	-0.034
Jeff Mathis	-0.047
Sam Dyson	-0.081
Jose Urena	-0.106
JT Realmuto	-0.109
Jeff Baker	-0.132
Donovan Solano	-0.177
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	-0.228
Henderson Alvarez	-0.277
Mat Latos	-0.310
Dan Haren	-0.317
Brad Hand	-0.337
Mike Morse	-0.354
Jarred Cosart	-0.367
Tom Koehler	-0.425
Mike Dunn	-0.451
Christian Yelich	-0.464

Ichthyomancy

Attendance: 21,993

Jigokusabre called Gordon a hero and Haren a zero for two points.

tomwolf2008 earned two points with an attendance guess of 21,000, then two more with a Gordon hero pick and a Williams zero.

MiamiSkye got a point for calling a Stanton homer. He called Gordon a hero for another.

dcfish got one point with a Williams zero pick.

nfries7 got a point for calling Gordon a hero.

gustavopim got three points, for calling Marlins 9+ hits, Gordon a hero and Williams a zero.

Marlon D got a point each for a Gordon hero and a Williams zero.

I said the Marlins would outhit the Phillies, Marlins pitching would strikeout at least six Phils, and had Williams as a zero for three.

Ichthyomancy Standings

gustavopim	29
dcfish	25
Kevin Kraczkowski	23
Bdwatson	22
Jigokusabre	21
Miami Skye	18
Marlon D	13
Gatorfan4life	8
Thomas Bennett	7
thenumber95	7
tomwolf2008	6
Jeremy Hulme	5
zag	3
Alex Carver	3
Delusional Marlins Fan	2
rsanchez1	2
sternma	2
SuperRadz	1
ncchief	1
d.o.g.o.b.y.g.n.	1
Al-Kendall	1
nfries7	1

I know it's been frustrating, but the Marlins still have time to recover and make a season out of this. Tune in for Miami's next game, tomorrow night at 7:05. Get your picks in here or on the gamethread.