Fish Stripes: All Posts by Noah Berger

COL 2, MIA 3; Focusing on the Little Things Unleashes the Brooms

2022-06-23T21:55:54-04:00

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

For the 10th time this season, the Marlins actually won a one-run game.

Miami, FL—Not every game needs a big swing or spectacular play. After winning the previous two games of the series with slugfests, the Marlins had to focus on the small things to squeak out their third straight win against the Colorado Rockies, continuing to climb their way back towards .500. It was not easy, but with the help of some great situational pitching and enthusiastic cheers from the camp day crowd at LoanDepot Park, they got the job done.

Braxton Garrett continues to improve himself into a bonafide Major League starting pitcher. This was arguably his best start of the season. He worked in and out of trouble, got strikeouts when he needed to, ground balls the other times, and made the Rockies hitters play up to his stuff. They had to beat him, not the other way around. His slider was dancing down-and-in to the righty heavy lineup, drawing a respectable 16 swings-and-misses—that tied for the highest total of any big leaguer who pitched on Thursday.

After giving up back-to-back singles with two outs in the fifth inning, Braxton gave way to Zach Pop who ended the threat by inducing a groundout. Braxton's final line: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 94/68 P/S, 24 BF. We’ll come back to the pitching side of the game momentarily.

Jon Berti. My word, what a run he is on (literally). His day included a single, a double, a run scored, and most importantly, TWO stolen bases to extend his lead on the Major League Most Wanted list. Consecutive successful stolen base attempts numbers 20 and 21 for Berti of the season, the longest such streak in Marlins history. His 17 steals in the month of June is also a club record.

OK, back to pitching. Zach Pop worked a scoreless 6th, working around a leadoff double. Friend of the pod Anthony Bass navigated around a one-out triple to keep the Rockies off the board in the 7th.

With the score tied at two, the game went to the top of the eighth inning. The bullpen door opened between innings and, um...no one came out. Anthony Bass didn’t emerge from the dugout, so there had to be someone coming from the ‘pen. Who was it, and more importantly, where are they!?

Finally, Steven Okert runs across the bullpen, grabs his glove, takes a few steps out of the door, shrugs, and jogs out to the mound. Don Mattingly goes out to talk with the umpires and Okert takes an extended warm-up session on the mound. Ready to go, right? Nope. Okert needed to get a new PitchCom receiver in his hat and Miguel Rojas had the trainer take a look at his right foot, which has been bothering him lately. Then, and only then, were we able to resume play.

In the end, no one was injured, and Okert simply didn’t know he was supposed to be pitching because the call for him to start warming up was never made. Thankfully, the lefty makes sure to get himself stretched and ready around the seventh inning in case he is needed in a pinch. He pitched a scoreless 8th inning, by the way. So the game remained 2-2, heading to the bottom half of the 8th inning. Would the offense pull through and give Tanner Scott a chance to close it out?

Garrett Cooper got the ball rolling with a one-out single and was replaced by pinch-runner Luke Williams. Jesús Aguilar followed that up with a single to right field, moving Williams over to third. It was Avisaíl García’s turn to save the day. He hit a ground ball to the left side that would normally result in a double play, but Avi turned on the afterburners. Reaching a season-high sprint speed of 29.5 ft/s, Avi beat out the throw, allowing Williams to score from third base, and giving the Marlins a 3-2 lead.

Avi Garcia matched his fastest sprint speed of the season at 29.5 feet/second (30.0 is considered elite), and every inch mattered in helping the #Marlins complete a sweep of the Rockies. pic.twitter.com/hIOtGrvgOR
— Glenn Geffner (@GlennGeffner) June 23, 2022

Tanner Scott struck out C.J. Cron, gave up a single to Brendan Rodgers, and struck out both Ryan McMahon and José Iglesias to complete his 7th save and seal the sweep.

Noah’s Notes and What’s Next

I am shocked I actually made it to the ballpark in time for this game with jury duty.
Go listen to the new podcast! That’s an order!

JON BLEEPING BERTI
Berti and Cooper are both riding 8-game hitting streaks; Cooper has also reached base safely in 15 straight dating back to June 3.
The Rockies offense went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 total runners on base.
Everyone’s favorite reporter (that’s me) now holds a 6-10 record in the press box. IMPROVEMENT!
This team isn’t ready to be eliminated. They are determined to get back into it, and it’s gonna be fun to watch, I promise you.
Speaking of fun to watch, Friday is Sandy Day. That matchup against the Mets will get a national audience, airing on MLB Network for out-of-market viewers.

Isaac Azout and Brent Cosculluela will have your credentialed coverage for the series opener. Isaac is handling the recap. I will be back with Louis Addeo-Weiss on Sunday.
That game is the 69th game of the Marlins season. Have a nice night!

What a Relief with Anthony Bass

2022-06-23T07:20:47-04:00

Noah is joined by Marlins RHP Anthony Bass for a wide-ranging and revealing conversation.

Introducing a new series of exclusive interviews with members of the Miami Marlins bullpen. Our first “victim” is right-hander Anthony Bass (4:00). On pace for a career year at age 34, Bass was an open book with us, covering the following topics:

Beginning of his professional career
Why he was converted into a reliever
Winning a championship in Japan with Shohei Ohtani
Fatherhood and life off the field
What went wrong in 2021 and the adjustments he’s made
What goes on inside a major league bullpen during games
Expectations for the rest of this season

Enjoy the debut episode of What a Relief!

Subscribe to the Fish Stripes YouTube channel for the full video version of every What a Relief episode.

Follow Anthony Bass on Twitter (@AnthonyBass52) and Instagram (@anthonyebass). Follow Noah (@Trainboy100) and Fish Stripes (@fishstripes). Check out our full coverage here at FishStripes.com.

Fish Stripes is ranked by Feedspot as the world’s No. 2 Miami Marlins podcast (trailing only the pod that’s produced by the franchise itself). Our programs include The Offishial Show, Big Fish Small Pod, Fish Stripes Unfiltered and Earning Their Stripes. All new episodes are posted to FishStripes.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.

MIA 2, PHI 3; What is There to Say at This Point?

2022-06-14T07:00:00-04:00

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

For the first time since May 6, the Marlins lost a Sandy Alcantara start.

Philadelphia, PA—You think the game is going one way, and then it flips a U-turn and goes the other way. And it all happens on one pitch. Sandy Alcantara was amazing, Rojas and Berti gave this team a chance, and it was all ultimately wasted after Sandy was removed with the game on the line. His game was taken out of his hands.

As usual, credit must be given to the opposing pitcher—none of this is a problem if Aaron Nola isn't on his A game. Nola is second in the majors in innings pitched behind only Sandy himself and those were high-quality innings on Monday. Sandy needed to be sharp to put the Marlins in a position to win. It all fell apart without him.

At this point, I must make it very clear that I will never say anything negative about someone more than is necessary. I am being very careful here not to break my own rules, while conveying how the outcome of this game truly felt.

Because of what happened in the eighth inning, nothing that occurred before it matters when all is said and done. Sandy Alcantara did what he has done in all of his recent starts. He got stronger and pitched smarter as the night went on, seemingly immune to the factors that derail mere mortals like pitch count and number of times through a lineup. His final line: 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 113/72 P/S. Read that in a vacuum and think of how devastating it would be for that to not result in a win. Okay, what about a no-decision but the team wins? Not even that?! Crushing.

Sandy started the eighth inning with back-to-back walks and looked off during them, missing his spots by wide margins. Easy takes for the Phillies. Everyone watching got that sinking feeling that his night was coming to a close. And Steven Okert was ready to go out in the bullpen.

Sandy had other ideas. He executed a 99 mph sinker running in on J.T. Realmuto to get Realmuto to ground into a double play. All of a sudden, you could see light at the end of the jam with the Marlins’ 2-1 lead still intact.

But it was too late—the decision to go to Okert had already been signed and sealed by whatever pregame matchup analysis the Marlins had done on Didi Gregorius. Don Mattingly came out to get Sandy, and there was nothing Sandy could do about it.

Fish Stripes original GIF

I have never seen Sandy Alcantara that upset, and he had every right to be. In crucial moments, opposing teams pray for the opportunity to face any Marlins pitcher not named Sandy. Repeatedly, he has shown the remarkable stamina and focus required to be at his best when his best is required. Mattingly’s move was the final nail in the coffin of this game. Okert surrendered the game-tying single to Gregorius in the eighth and the Phillies scratched across a run against Anthony Bass in the ninth.

Who is actually in charge of the Marlins’ decision-making in these situations? Mattingly is the scapegoat, but perhaps it isn’t that simple. I have no idea. The same cycle continues indefinitely. The Marlins have 16 one-run losses this season (most in the majors). Something needs to change.

Postgame Press Conferences

Baseball Savant

UPDATED 2022 Miami Marlins Walk-Up Songs

2022-06-08T19:18:21-04:00

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

UPDATED: 6/8/2022

This article is tailor-made for fans like me who love a good walk-up song. With the Marlins no longer publicly displaying the team’s musical choices (they used to here), Fish Stripes is putting in the effort to maintain an unofficial playlist. We will try to keep the list as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Feel free to shout at us if you find a mistake!

This alphabetized list contains separate sections for position players (walk-up songs) and pitchers (entrance songs).

Listen closely the next time one of the bullpen guys has their name announced. Some players have multiple walkup songs.

Full Playlist

Position Players

#99 Jesús Aguilar

1- “Lonli” by Jimmix

2- “Coraza Divina” by Daddy Yankee

#15 Brian Anderson

“Double Bubble Trouble” by M. I. A.

#37 Willians Astudillo

“Mercedes” by Simon Diaz

#5 Jon Berti

“Still D.R.E.” by Dr. Dre (Instrumental)

#2 Jazz Chisholm Jr.

1- “Banking on Me” by Gunna

2- “What Happened to Virgil” by Lil Durk

3- “Peru” by Fireboy DML

4- “Over” by Drake

#26 Garrett Cooper

“Saint” by Hucho Jack, Travis Scott

#14 Bryan De La Cruz:

1- “Coronao” by Rochy RD

2- “Trucha” by Chimbala

#54 Nick Fortes

“Don’t Think” by mike.

#24 Avisaíl García

“El Abusador del Abusador” by Daddy Yankee

#9 Erik González

“Llego el Real” Remix by Omega & Ozuna

#59 Payton Henry

“Can’t Stop” by Red Hot Chili Peppers

#11 Miguel Rojas

1- “25/8” by Bad Bunny

2- “Moscow Mule” by Bad Bunny

3- “Party” by Bad Bunny, Rauw Alejandro

4- “Flow Violento” by Arcangel

5- “Efecto” by Bad Bunny

6- “La Corriente” by Bad Bunny

#7 Jesús Sánchez

“Bendecido” by Redimi2

#12 Jorge Soler

“Gracias” by El Micha

(Can’t find exact song online)

#58 Jacob Stallings

“Awesome God” by R-Swift

#18 Joey Wendle

“Nobody” by Casting Crowns, Matthew West

#46 Luke Williams

“Gimme the Loot” by The Notorious B.I.G.

Pitchers

#22 Sandy Alcantara

“Los Cajeros” by El Alfa

#52 Anthony Bass

“The Next Episode” by Dr. Dre

#55 Anthony Bender

“Heavy Metal” by Sammy Hagar

#35 Richard Bleier

“Breed” by Nirvana

#27 Edward Cabrera

“Uva Bombom” by Rochy RD

#20 Dan Castano

“Bury My Bones” by Whiskey Myers

#36 Dylan Floro

“For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica

#60 Braxton Garrett

“Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

#50 Sean Guenther

“Fire Woman” by The Cult

#38 Louis Head

“Enemy” by Imagine Dragons, JID, Arcane

#57 Elieser Hernandez

“El Duro” Remix by Don Omar ft Daddy Yankee

(Can’t find exact song)

#49 Pablo López

“Tu Me Quemas” by Chino y Nacho

#44 Jesús Luzardo

“El Negrito Fullero” by Cardenales del Exito

#51 Tommy Nance

“Youth of the Nation” by P.O.D.

#29 Nick Neidert

“Redneck Yacht Club” by Craig Morgan

#48 Steven Okert

“Kings of Summer” by ayokay, Quinn XCII

#56 Zach Pop

“The Unforgiven” by Metallica

#72 Cody Poteet

“Awake and Alive” by Skillet

#28 Trevor Rogers

“Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top

#66 Tanner Scott

“Safaera” by Bad Bunny

#31 Cole Sulser

“Smooth” by Santana

MIA 12, WAS 2; A (Club)House Divided Finds a Way to Stand Tall

2022-06-08T05:55:00-04:00

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

On a night when Marlins players declined to go into detail about their pregame meeting, they let their play do the talking.

Miami, FL—A day that started off on shaky ground turns into an offensive explosion for the Fish. And they needed it badly. They got excellent pitching too! But before I break down what happened on the field, the extracurricular activities require addressing.

At approximately 3:15 pm this afternoon, all media and non-player/coach personnel were asked to leave the clubhouse 30 minutes early due to an unscheduled team meeting. Originally, the media were informed that they would be returning to the clubhouse shortly. That never happened. In fact, no one went in or out of the clubhouse for the next 90 minutes. When they finally emerged, there was a distinct lack of the usual joking around and smiling that is seen during stretches. Batting practice? Nope, the Nationals already started their own BP.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, Don Mattingly got caught in a moment of brutal honesty. Without giving details of the meeting itself, Donnie said that he had called the meeting because there had been a pattern forming of strife among players and he wanted to put an end to it. According to him, the majority of the meeting consisted of players airing their grievances with other players and the coaches didn’t do much, if any, talking.

"It wasn't a 'rah-rah' meeting..."

Don Mattingly on the Marlins closed-door team meeting with Mattingly, Kim Ng, and others@Marlins | #MakeItMiami pic.twitter.com/0luf5Jm48F
— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) June 7, 2022

To hear Mattingly say he didn’t know one way or the other if the issues are resolved is concerning. From my experience team meetings are held usually to team bond. Definitely does not sound like this happened today.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) June 7, 2022

It couldn’t possibly get worse than that, right?

WRONG! Don Mattingly was quoted as saying, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the team came out tonight and was real flat.” He concluded by hinting at the matter not being fully resolved.

Oh boy: that can’t be good. No players would comment on the meeting. It was blatantly obvious during warmups that this wouldn’t be an ordinary game and had an extremely high chance of going terribly wrong. We were all left guessing as the teams took the field and the first pitch was thrown at 6:42 PM.

What happened in the following two hours and fifty-six minutes can be described with a myriad of adjectives, but “flat” was definitely NOT one of them. From the first pitch, every pitch held serious weight, and the players made it very clear that they weren't going to let any clubhouse division detract from the on-field product going forward. Every ground ball was fielded with 100% effort, every fly ball was tracked with determination and purpose. And EVERYONE chipped in for a marvelous display of pitching and hitting, which will hopefully be the start of a rebound in the standings.

Do I think that this win solved all the clubhouse issues? Not in the slightest. Does it help? Of course. But now that I’ve addressed the off-field shenanigans, let's get into the actual game, starting with the run prevention side of the ball.

EDWARD. CABRERA. Learn his name. He’s good.

His mixture of five different pitches—including a changeup that averaged 93 mph—was too much for the Nationals hitters to handle (besides Luis García, but we aren’t going to talk about that). He worked into and out of trouble a few times but only allowed one run, including a nerve-wracking sixth inning in which he stranded two runners after allowing a home run to Luis García. (Darn it, I said we weren’t talking about him!)

Besides for some wacky plays in the later innings, the Marlins defenders put on a show. Before being removed from the game with back tightness, Jesús Sánchez made a slick catch on a line drive to end the top of the second inning. His replacement, Bryan De La Cruz showed off his range in the fourth inning to rob Nelson Cruz of a hit.

Now for the offensive side. Remember what I said about coming out flat? I think scoring five runs in the second inning squashed any “flat” concerns, especially when it involves the bottom half of the lineup loading the bases for Jazz Chisholm Jr. The first-ever grand slam hit on a 3-0 pitch in Miami Marlins history changed the mood of the entire game, and they weren't done. Jazz ended up clobbering two home runs for a career-high six RBIs.

Nick Fortes had a solid night at the plate that included an RBI single, a three-run home run, and two walks...from the ninth spot in the lineup! If your nine-hole hitter is doing that, you're doing something right. You can’t convince me otherwise. Soler added on a home run of his own and seven players had at least a hit for the Marlins.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

Noah’s Notes

My record in the press box now improves to 2-8 (FINALLY).
All runs but one were scored via a home run.
Nick Fortes is sporting a batting average of .467. Highest mark in the majors this season among those who have played at least five games.
The Marlins used every position player on their roster besides Jacob Stallings.
Willians Astudillo struck out for the first time this season—it happened in his 19th plate appearance.

The Marlins have scored 26 runs in support of Edward Cabrera through his first two starts since being called up.
Miguel Rojas is a really good shortstop.

WHAT’S NEXT: Happy Sandy Day to all who celebrate! The Marlins have won each of the last five times that Alcantara has taken the mound. Isaac Azout and I will have your on-site coverage from the ballpark on Wednesday. Isaac will have the recap for you.

.467!!!

MIA 0, TB 4; Pablo gets hit hard, offense didn't make the trip

2022-05-25T06:00:01-04:00

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

For the first time in a month, the Marlins were held scoreless.

St. Petersburg, FL—The Marlins were overmatched. There really isn’t much else to say. There is a reason the Rays are a perennial playoff team and the Marlins aren’t. Tuesday’s game, though, was a little different.

@fishstripes
The #miamimarlins recap: #marlins fall 4-0 to the #tampabayrays . #mlb #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #baseball
♬ Beats - VitorBeats

Pablo López’s night got off to a shaky start when his first pitch of the game resulted in an inside-the-park home run for Kevin Kiermaier. Yeah, an inside-the-parker on the first pitch. It was that kind of night.

Marlins legend “Hitting” Harold Ramirez muscled a pitch that wasn't anywhere near the strike zone over the wall in the right field corner to make it 2-0 in the second.

Pablo settled in after surviving the jam in the second, and cruised into the 6th inning. And that’s when Randy Arozarena and Ji-Man Choi decided that it was their turn to kill the ball. A leadoff double for Randy and a laser-beam home run for Ji-Man Choi blew the doors wide open. But Pablo stayed with it, working around a jam in the seventh inning to give the Marlins at least half a chance at stealing this game. He allowed nine total hits (previous season-high was six).

Final Line: 7.0 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 3 HR, 86/62 P/S.

Would the offense show up in Pablo’s defense? *glances at the final score* Yeah...nope.

The Marlins came close to stealing a run when a pitch got away from catcher Mike Zunino. However, it didn't stray far enough and Garrett Cooper was gunned down at the plate. Starting in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career didn’t magically bestow Coop with any extra agility, apparently.

What on Earth was that.

A wild pitch with a throw out at home...from the third basemen. pic.twitter.com/QrVZukkCbX
— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) May 25, 2022

Five collective hits from the Marlins was not enough—it’s almost never enough.

Before everyone grabs their pitchforks and torches, please remember that this was a lineup without Jazz, Wendle, Berti, or Miggy Ro. If you win without those guys it will be nothing short of a miracle.

Noah’s Notes

Eh...
Anthony Bass is your closer, Marlins fans. (No, that’s not confirmed, I just wanted to say it.)
Speaking of Tony Bass, I think that was the first time we’ve seen him break out the red glove in a game! (Upon further review, this is the second time, but I find it cool, so it’s staying in this.)
Pablo López no longer leads the National League in ERA. His 2.04 mark is now third behind Joe Musgrove of the Padres (1.90) and Miles Mikolas of the Cardinals (1.96).
Brian Anderson wouldn't let the game end with his at-bat in the ninth, making Ryan Thompson throw ten pitches to get him out. Ultimately, his career-long 25-game on-base streak was snapped.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

UP NEXT

Same time, same place, same lovable on-site reporter, different pitcher! Cody Poteet faces off against Drew Rasmussen to try and split the Citrus Series. First pitch at 6:40 p.m.

MIA 8, WAS 2; Enter Sandman! And the Bats!

2022-05-17T06:00:38-04:00

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Bryan De La Cruz is oh-so-quietly hitting .333 in part-time action this season.

*hums Enter Sandman over in the corner*

Sandy Alcantara had a career-defining game, the bats came to life and then some, and the Nationals got empanadas (courtesy of Gerardo Parra).

An outing that started out disturbingly shaky for Sandy ended up becoming one of the best starts he’s ever had. After allowing a run on a few singles in the first inning and putting two men on in the second inning, Sandy went on to retire the next TWENTY batters IN A ROW!

Sandy needed 43 pitches for those first two innings, which left us feeling like another bullpen burn was on the horizon. But he was having none of it. The veteran right-hander ended his spectacular night on an even 100 pitches (71 strikes). Final line: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO.

Usually, when Sandy has a start like this, it’s overshadowed by a discussion about the bats not coming alive—they rarely provide adequate support on the days he starts. That was not the case on Monday! Of the nine Marlins batters who started the game, all reached base at least once, eight recorded a hit, and two reached base thrice (Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz). De La Cruz raised his career batting average to .303, a top-10 mark among all active MLB position players.

And it began early, too. With one out in the second, Avisaíl García showed us all why he was brought here to Miami: to produce runs. The game was tied and the Marlins were not done. Brian Anderson walked, Bryan De La Doubled, González singled, Stallings doubled, and Jazz singled. The Marlins hung four runs on Aaron Sanchez to give Sandy some breathing room with a 4-1 lead.

It wasn’t perfect—there was a time in the third inning for them to leave the bases loaded, better known as a LOBsterfest. Innings four through six were the same old “cant move a runner over” team we are used to seeing.

They woke up again in the seventh. Stallings, Jazz, Aggy, Soler, and Garcia all hit singles, driving in another four runs. And even though there were no RBIs on the play, Bryan De La Doubled again!

[Got kicked out of the press box here. Please standby...]

With an 8-1 lead the Marlins looked to give Anthony Bass a chance in the ninth inning. Now, had you told me that sentence at the beginning of the season, I would be absolutely terrified. But not after how well Bass has pitched. With the other options at closer struggling, an 8-1 lead is the perfect time to get someone like Bass some reps in the ninth. It wasn’t clean—he did allow an unearned run—but he locked it down and the Marlins took this game by a score of 8-2.

And for the first time in my career, music was blasting in the Marlins clubhouse after the game.

Noah’s Notes

Jorge Soler hits the ball hard, VERY hard. On Monday, he put balls in play with exit velocities of 111.0, 112.7 and 113.2 mph. Soler became the first Marlins player since Giancarlo Stanton to have three 110+ mph batted balls in the same game!
Avisail Garcia is definitely starting to live up to his contract. It’s a relief.
The Marlins have hit a home run in ten consecutive games and they set a season-high for hits in a game with 16!
The underrated performance of the night goes to Jacob Stallings who went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Bryan De La Cruz might finally be getting the reps in the field and at the plate that he deserves. The Marlins may find themselves with a competition for the starting CF spot if DLC continues at his current pace. Kevin Barral should have more on that in an upcoming article.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

What’s Next:

With Luzardo on the IL, Cody Poteet will make a spot start on Tuesday as the Marlins try to win the series. Isaac Azout and Daniel Rodriguez will have the coverage for you from LoanDepot Park throughout the day.

MIA 3, ARI 4; Live by the long ball, die by the long ball (again)

2022-05-10T01:00:06-04:00

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Marlins dropped their series opener in Arizona and into a tie for third place in the NL East.

Yes, I’m using the title again. It fits. Deal with it.

Before I get into the doom and gloom...COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP. Garrett Cooper destroyed a ball to the opposite field to tie the game in the fourth! (This is the “live by” part.)

Now then, a question for the collective Marlins coaching staff: why on earth is Elieser Hernandez pitching to an order for the third time in a game? It NEVER ends well! But fear not, Marlins fans, Max Meyer will be our savior! At least we keep telling ourselves that.

In the meantime, there are a few positives to find with Lilo. After allowing runs in the first two innings, Elieser had set down 12 of 13 batters as he cruised into the 6th inning. Then the patented last-pitch-of-the-game home run (this is the “die by” part). It was Ketel Marte who broke the tie and made it 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, ending the night for Lilo.

Final line: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 88/57 P/S.

Marte was in a rut early this season, but that’s ancient history—he is slashing .458/.552/.833 since the calendar flipped to May.

Tommy Nance came on in relief of Lilo to make his Marlins debut and was lights out! Back-to-back strikeouts got him out of the sixth inning and a double play turned by Miguel Rojas helped erase a leadoff walk in the seventh. Tommy struck out the third batter of the inning, and wouldn't you know it, the Marlins were heading into the final innings down by a single run. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

The offense showed some life in the form of some bases-loaded RBIs from Jacob Stallings and the aforementioned Cooper home run, but the rest of the game was a lobster fest for the Marlins. With De La Cruz pinch-running for Jesús Aguilar at second base and Jorge Soler at first base with one out in the eighth inning, Joey Wendle lined a ball directly into the glove of the shortstop and it looked like Bryan De La Cruz was easily doubled off at second base but was called safe. After a review, the safe call stood as it was extremely too close to call.

Alas, it was for naught as the dead ball reared its ugly head and Garrett Cooper flew out to deep left.

Fish Stripes original GIF

Tanner Scott encountered some trouble in the bottom of the eighth but made it through unscathed. And we went to the ninth with the Marlins down a run. A tweet we've seen very often over the past two seasons made an appearance:

The #Marlins have three outs to score at least one run.
— Jordan McPherson (@J_McPherson1126) May 10, 2022

Avisaíl García started off the ninth with a single, but was forced out on a slick defensive play on a Jesús Sánchez grounder. Sánchez was then doubled off to end the game. And lo and behold, ANOTHER ONE-RUN LOSS!

This is their brand, unfortunately. The Marlins suffered their 10th one-run loss of the season—no other MLB team has more than seven.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

This is getting annoying. Call up Max Meyer, do SOMETHING about the offense, and abolish west coast games.

Well, they can’t kick me out of my own room so you’re all stuck here for as long as I decide! But it’s late. Go to sleep. MadBum vs. Lizard on Tuesday.

ARI 8, MIA 7; Live by the long ball, die by the long ball

2022-05-04T18:25:36-04:00

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

On the heels of a seven-game winning streak, the Marlins have now dropped four straight.

MIAMI, Fla.—Frustrating: that’s the best way to describe the outcome of Wednesday’s game and the entire Diamondbacks series. Like the previous games in the series, Miami’s starting pitching left a lot to be desired. Unlike the previous games, the Marlins got on the board first and neither team could hold a lead.

But there was hope! Let’s go through it.

The first inning went the Marlins’ way with Jon Berti taking Madison Bumgarner deep in the first at bat in the bottom of the first. Three straight flyouts followed him and the Marlins had a 1-0 lead heading into the second.

The game was seemingly handed to the Marlins on a silver platter when Bumgarner was ejected by umpire Dan Bellino. The veteran lefty got tossed following a sticky substance check. It is not my place to comment on umpiring decisions and the like, but from what we’ve seen of the incident, MadBum was ejected without reason. (Major League Baseball later confirmed that the ejection was not related to foreign substances.)

Then Payton Henry briefly seized the spotlight. Can a backup catcher win a Gold Glove? (I know, I’m insane, just roll with it.) Payton made multiple excellent defensive plays around home plate to cut down runners trying to bunt or score. AND he got his first hit of the season to drive in a run in the bottom half of the second to put the Fish up 3-0!

That score would hold until the fourth inning, then the wheels fell off. A walk, cue-shot double, triple to the corner, infield single, and a home run combined to tack 5 runs onto Elieser Hernandez. The very first pitch he threw to a batter his third time through the Arizona order was sent over the center field wall. After getting the final out in the fourth, Lilo’s day was done.

Marlins starting pitchers in this series—Hernandez, Pablo López and Trevor Rogers—combined to allow 14 runs (13 of them earned) in 13 innings.

The D-backs extended their lead to 6-3 when they tacked on another run off Tanner Scott in the sixth inning. Scott’s run was unearned due to a misplayed ball by everyone’s favorite outfielder, Bryan De La Cruz. BUT, he made up for it by driving in two runs!

With two outs in the seventh inning, the Jon Berti show came back for Act II. He followed up his first-inning, leadoff home run with a two-out shot into the lounge in left! That seemed to light a fire under Jesús Aguilar. The accomplished run producer has mostly been settling for singles so far in 2022, but he cranked a pitch down the middle to make it back-to-back homers, bringing the Marlins back within one.

Henry and Aguilar put on a defensive clinic in the top of the eighth—Henry making a slick play on a sac bunt and Aguilar following that up with a game-changing catch and force double play!

Then the fun intensified in the bottom half of the frame. Brian Anderson and Jazz Chisholm Jr. had back-to-back one-out singles, and Miguel Rojas moved Andy to third on a flyout. So what does Bryan De La Cruz do? HE. HITS. THE. BALL. His single to the left side tied the game and moved Jazz to third for Payto...Oh no, pack it in boys: Avi García’s pinch-hitting!

Before García could squander this golden opportunity, Kenyan Middleton unleashed a wild pitch. THERE GOES JAZZ, AND THE MARLINS HAVE THE LEAD!

For the lead!

: @MarlinsRadio, @GlennGeffner pic.twitter.com/WCoVJAtbVE
— Kyle Sielaff (@Kyle_Sielaff) May 4, 2022

(I won’t say how García’s at-bat ended—you can make an educated guess on your own.)

So the Marlins had a 7-6 lead as Anthony Bender jogged out to the mound for the top half of the ninth inning.

First batter; strikeout looking
Second batter: uh oh...line drive single

And then, we were treated to the signature Anthony Bender lead-flipping home run, courtesy of South Florida’s own Pavin Smith. Devastating. Frustrating. All the adjectives!

When the pitching is great, the bats are silent, Marlins lose.

When the pitching is subpar, the bats are hot, bullpen lets it slip, Marlins lose.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

Something has to give and it has to give soon. Where is Max Meyer? Why can’t Avi García hit the ball? Why is Jon Berti so good? And one of these days can I PLEASE COVER A MARLINS WIN?!?! Just one?!?!

Now, as I get kicked out of the pressbox cause it’s way too late to be here, the Marlins are off to San Diego!

MIA 1, STL 5; Command issues and quiet bats

2022-04-19T23:00:03-04:00

Bryan De La Cruz came off the bench to drive in the Marlins’ only run | Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off an offense-fueled series win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Marlins hoped to keep the bats hot and the opposition quiet as they took on the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday evening at home. They didn’t do either of those.

The Pitching

Jesús Luzardo began the game throwing 99 mph and got the first two batters to strike out. It looked like he was settling in for another solid start. But it didn’t take long for the wheels to fall off.

In the top of the second, fossilized 42-year-old Albert Pujols smacked a one-out double and scored two batters later on another double by Paul DeJong. DeJong then scored from second when Jazz fielded a dribbler from Yadier Molina cleanly but bounced the throw to first, sending it past Cooper.

And the bleeding did not stop there. Two more runs scored in the third inning on four Cardinals hits. But Luzardo stayed in the game for another inning and a third, leaving the game with one out in the fifth inning and runners on the corners. Shawn Armstrong allowed one of those runners to score, leaving Luzardo with a final line of 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He threw 88 pitches, 59 strikes. The bullpen, to their credit, did not allow another run.

The Hitting and Fielding

Five runs doesn't sound like it should be hard for the team we saw over the weekend. But that team either didn’t show up, or started the game on the bench. Or, in the case of Jazz Chisholm Jr., was removed in the 6th for pinch-hitter Jorge Soler.

That, of course, came after my personal favorite moment tonight. WE GOT OURSELVES A PINCH-HIT DE LA CRUZ MISSILE!

What? You really thought I forgot to include my boy?? Highlight of my night! DLC replaced Avisaíl García in right field in the top of the 6th inning after Avisail left the game with some stomach issues. His first career pinch-hit home run was a nuke to dead center.

416 feet, the longest home run of Bryan De La Cruz's MLB career
— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) April 20, 2022

But back to Jazz. And before I say this I want to make sure I reiterate the fact that I will never speak overly negatively about a player or coach—it’s not how I roll. That being said, I have no idea how removing the one “game-changing” hitter after only two at-bats when you are down 5-1 is something that can be justified by lefty-righty splits and wanting to “change the game.” I am not a professional, nor do I claim to know more than the managers, but that move was just flat out wrong. Not only does it completely mess up the fielding situation—which led to another error later in the game—it absolutely shreds the confidence of a young hitter.

The best hitters on this team are being held out of the lineup or removed for reasons that don’t make sense and it’s concerning. It’s only ten games in, but do you really want the face of your franchise being pulled in the middle of a game, upsetting them to the point that after the game they quickly gathered their things and left the stadium without talking to anyone?! A player that normally chats with anyone and everyone before, during, and after games? It’s concerning.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

This game didn’t go the way they wanted. Sandy is pitching on Wednesday so you have a chance to bounce back. Now is the time to fix these mistakes, and I hope they do before it is too late.