Ureña pitches strong game, limits Phils to one run

José Ureña: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

Vince Velasquez: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

José Ureña had a great game against the slumping Phills today. There was spin and movement on his pitches. Philly batters were freezing up on balls up in the zone. This was a stark change from his last start where he only stuck out two batters. He looked comfortable and only made one mistake in the game.

That mistake came early in the game during the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera got a nice pitch near the middle of the plate and he drove it deep. The solo shot would be the only run the Phills could muster in the game. No walks and seven strikeouts really tell the story of the game for Ureña on the mound.

The Marlins wasted no time in responding with their own flurry of offense. Derek Dietrich started the inning off the right way with a triple. Lewis Brinson followed up with a single to drive Dietrich in. Austin Dean was up next and he doubled, moving Brinson to third. Rafael Ortega was the last person to get on the offense train that inning. He singled, driving in two runs making it 3-0 Fish.

Ortega also had some great defensive plays in the game today.

Adam Conley was brought in to pitch the eighth inning. He did so without any problems. Well there was a Rhys Hoskins lead off out which went all the way to the warning track but besides that all was well. Drew Steckenrider came in for the save, striking out two out of the three batters he faced. The Marlins played good ball today and the pitching kept them in it.

Courtesy of Fangraphs

Kingfish: José Ureña (.285 WPA).

Flounder: Vince Velasquez (-.185).

Play of the game: Ortega’s two RBI hit.

Attendance: 7,771

Please leave any Icthy picks in the comments below. Remember, we introduced a new grand prize for the contest this season.

Matchup Summary:

The Fish are 1-4 in their last five games, with a record of 54-83. Their last series, which was against the Blue Jays they lost 2-1. Things are not looking great for the Fish. They will be finishing up their home stand with three games against the Philadelphia Phillies.

One interesting aspect to the Fish right now is they will be going with a six man rotation until the end of the season. This will allow Sandy Alcantara and Jeff Brigham to pitch at the Major League level. Speaking of Brigham he did not have much success yesterday against the Jays, but it sounds like he will stick around for the rest of the season.

This really is all about development for the Fish. While their are some questionable players taking up spots, for the most part youth is the game. José Ureña will be facing off against Vince Velasquez. Ureña had a poor start last time against the Red Sox. In that start he struck out only two batters, a season low for him. Ureña did not pitch like someone coming off of 8 days of rest. The Phillies should be a slightly easier challenge.

The Phillies have been slumping at an alarming rate this past month. They have not won a series since the last time they faced the Fish. That series started August third, it is now September third...pretty shocking. So we shall see what they can muster up against the Fish tonight.

Game Thread Question:

If you could take one player from the Phills and put them on the Fish who would it be?