This really sucks to have to do because I love MLBlogs so much, but unfortunately, I won't be blogging here anymore...I've decided to move on over to Wordpress. If you would like to continue reading my stuff, please head on over to HERE! That's where you'll find my new blog. I'm broadening my horizons and I've decided to blog about more than just the Marlins.

I've enjoyed talking baseball with you all and will continue reading all my favorite blogs on here! I hope you will do the same and continue to read mine :)

Go Marlins!

Peace,
Love,
And TEAL Baseball,

Sarah

I guess it could be worse. A Mets vs Red Sox World Series would be unbearable. At least this one's tolerable. I suppose. The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games, to advance to the World Series. This will be their first World Series appearance since 2003, when they lost to my beloved Florida Marlins. They will face off against the reigning champion Philadelphia Phillies, who are back for another year, in hopes of being crowned World Series Champions for the second consecutive season. If they do so, it would be the first time a National League team has won two consecutive World Series titles since the Cincinnati Reds did it from 1975-1976.

A Yankees vs Phillies Fall Classic gave me a lot to think about. Who was I to root for? Being a Marlins fan, it was a given I would not be pulling for the Phillies this post season. However, when their opponent is the Evil Empire and I am forced to choose, it creates many issues. Like I said before, I do not like the Yankees. Sure, I don't hate them as much as I used to, but that doesn't mean I'm a fan. I love the history of the Yankees and I admire their fan support. I think Derek Jeter is one of the classiest men in baseball, and I really like Andy Pettitte. But I'm not sure I can go against my whole family and root for the Bronx Bombers to notch another victory under their belts. Although, I do disagree with everyone who complains about buying championships, because I don't believe in that theory anyways. You can buy the greatest players in the game, but if they don't play well together, you're going nowhere. But just because I'm saying nice things about them doesn't mean I want them to win. I was raised rooting against them and for some reason, I think I might be sticking to those ways...

Onto the Phillies...As a Marlins fan, I'm supposed to despise them, right? I mean, how could anyone root for someone in your own division? A Red Sox fan would never root for the Yankees. A Cubs fan would never root for the Cardinals. But I don't necessarily see the Marlins and Phillies as HUGE rivals. We used to be, a couple years ago, but I don't really get it now. I hate the Mutts more than I hate the Phillies. I actually don't mind the Phillies that much. I like Charlie Manuel a lot. Ryan Howard is a beast. How can you not like him? I like Jayson Werth and his amazing ability at the plate which seems to have just sparked this year. I like Brad Lidge and enjoy seeing him succeed (shocking, I know). I like Shane Victorino, for the most part, anyways. I love Chase Utley because I'm a girl and he's the "McDreamy" of baseball. And Cliff Lee? Don't even get me started on him. Plus, I'm a National League girl. Always have been, always will be.

So after much consideration, and looking past the bullying I received at Citizens Bank Park two years ago because I was wearing a Marlins shirt, I have decided to cheer on the Phillies for a maximum of seven games this October. Some Marlins fans may scold me, but I would like people to know that my Marlins can and do compete with a World Series caliber team on an almost-monthly basis. They're a great team and I wouldn't completely hate seeing them rejoice in celebration for the second year in a row. I mean, I'm not going out and buying a Phillies jersey or anything, but I had to choose one.

It's hard to believe this season is coming to an end. I feel like it was just yesterday that pitchers and catchers were reporting. Now, two of the best teams in baseball will face each other for the championship. No matter the outcome, this is still going to be an awesome series. Both teams have been phenomenal all season long, and now, they've both met their match. Question is, who will prevail? Will the Phillies repeat? Or will the Yanks be back to their winning ways? Who will you be cheering on this October?

Peace,
Love,
And TEAL Baseball,

Sarah

Monday night, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Colorado Rockies to advance to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, with hopes of repeating last year's post season performance. The Phillies are the only team advancing to the Championship Series that did not sweep their Division Series opponent. The Yankees swept the Twins, the Dodgers swept the Cardinals, the Angels swept the Red Sox, and the Phillies took three out of four from Colorado. After seeing all four of these teams really dominate their respective Division opponents, it's obvious that the Championship Series are going to be a real battle right up to the very end.

At this point, it's hard to even make any sort of prediction of what's going to happen as the games unfold. All four teams have an extraordinary group of players that play well together. They are all highly respectable clubs that have proven exactly why their teams have made it this far. But now, it's time to see what two teams can prove that they're even more worthy of advancing to the World Series.

An important, if not most important, part of these games will be starting pitching. I've always believed that pitching wins games. If you send out your best arms and rely on them to give you a good seven or eight innings, then send out dependable arms from the bullpen, you've got an excellent chance of winning ballgames. But it takes so much more than just pitching to win these kind of games. This is October. It's gonna take a whole lot to advance through this round.

American League Championship Series

• New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Series starts this Friday at Yankee Stadium
• Both teams with excellent starting pitching: Lackey, Saunders, Weaver vs Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte
  
• Will A-Rod live up to his ALDS performance?
  
• My Pick: Halos all the way!

National League Championship Series

• Philadelphia Phillies vs Los Angeles Dodgers
• Series starts tonight at Dodger Stadium.
• Clayton Kershaw and Cole Hamels will face off in game one!
  
• The same teams played each other in last year's NLCS. Will this year be different? Or will the Phightin' Phils repeat?
• My Pick: Dodger Blue!

I'll be rooting for a Dodgers vs Angels Freeway Fall Classic! How awesome would that be?? Two teams from the same city, battling it out for a World Series! Talk about history in the making! Who are you cheering on?? Is your team thisclose to going all the way? Or have you adopted a new team this month because yours has been eliminated? No matter which teams advance and which don't, I know it already has been and definitely will be a blast watching baseball this October :-)

Peace,
Love,
And October Baseball,

<3 Sarah

*I love clubhouse celebration pictures, so here are some favorites I wanted to share!

And then there were eight.

Eight teams full of enthusiasm and excitement over what this post season will bring for them and which two lucky teams will advance to the Fall Classic. This is probably one of my favorite times of the year. Opening Day is pretty amazing too, but October baseball is the greatest. I know my Marlins are out of it and the Tigers broke my heart last night, but the playoffs are still a must-watch for all baseball fans, no matter who you root for. October baseball is all about making dreams come true. It's about witnessing history in the making, with the hopes of your team pushing through to the very end. Although my teams didn't make it to the playoffs, it is still an honor to watch eight fabulous and well-deserving teams battle it out for a championship they all dreamed of as little boys. The passion they all share for this beautiful sport and the effort they put into each and every game is outstanding. It's love.

Without further ado, here are your 2009 MLB Post Season teams:

New York Yankees

• I was raised to despise the Yankees. My whole entire family hates them and everything they stand for. When my Marlins won the 2003 World Series, it was ten times sweeter because we beat the Yanks. As I've grown older and more mature, my hatred for the evil empire has died down a bit. I don't hate them nearly as much as I used to. It was just the way I was raised, I suppose. Hating the Yankees was the thing to do. Now, however, I don't mind them. Now, don't go crazy and think I'm gonna be sporting Yankee pinstripes or anything, but I'm done with hating. I'm pretty numb to the idea of them winning the whole thing. I'm not chanting "Let's Go Yankees", but I'm not devastated about it either.
• The Yankees have been a favored winner for quite some time now. They have an incredibly talented group of guys that play extremely well together. A strong rotation including Sabathia, Burnett, and Pettitte is their biggest advantage. And between Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira, Matsui, Damon, and many more, they're a fantastic team with plenty of power and consistency. They also have young guys with lots of potential, like Francisco Cervelli. Definitely a team built to win.. They've been built. The question is, can they win? Only time will tell...

Minnesota Twins

• Talk about an out-of-nowhere playoff run! It seemed as if the Tigers had that AL Central all locked up, but they faltered late in the season, and forced a one-game playoff to determine the division winner. After 12 innings and almost five hours of baseball, the Twins prevailed and walked-off in their last regular season game in the Metrodome, to advance to the playoffs. What a story that would be: "Twins win World Series, last year in the Dome!" Unfortunately, for them, I don't think it's gonna happen. They've got a tough feat in facing the Yankees...But I suppose stranger things have happened.
• This team rolled right on through September and put themselves in a great position to take the division, which they did, and that probably would have never happened without Joe Mauer. He is absolutely amazing. He is phenomenal behind the plate, and the numbers he puts up AT the plate, are even better. Hands down, AL MVP! And if you thought this team wasn't going anywhere without Morneau, you are sadly mistaken. Jason Kubel has stepped up big time and helped the club in a huge way. Denard Span and Delmon Young are fabulous too, as well as Cabrera, Casilla, and Punto. Solid starting pitching as well, with Baker, Blackburn, and Pavano, whom I'm surely looking forward to watch face his former Yankee squad sometime this week. And Joe Nathan is a big plus...Should be a good one to watch!
  

Boston Red Sox

• I'm not even gonna lie about this one and try to be nice. I hate the Boston Red Sox. I truly do. I don't like them. I don't like their players. I don't like their ownership. I don't like Fenway. And most of all I DO NOT like Jacoby Ellsbury.
  
• Phew, now that I got that off my chest...What do I like about them? The fact that they have three former Marlins is a start. Beckett, Lowell, AND Gonzo! Those are my three favorite Red Sox. Good starting pitching will get them far, as well as strong performances from Youkilis, Pedroia, Papi, and Jason Bay.
  
• Needless to say, I will not be rooting for the Red Sox this time around...

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

• Aside from having the worst city/team name in all of baseball, I really like the Angels. I've enjoyed watching them this year and look forward to hopefully seeing them get far in the post season! They've had a tough time this year, losing a friend and teammate in Nick Adenhart, but they've persevered through all year and had another fantastic season. They're my American League team this October. How can you NOT love them?
• Their rotation is dominant, consisting of Lackey, Weaver, Kazmir, Saunders, and Santana. (Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm totally not claiming to know it all, here!) Good starters and they'll be depending on Torii Hunter and Chone Figgins, among many others, to do well this post season. I'll be cheering them on all the way! This is a great group of guys that play with their whole heart. And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
  

Philadelphia Phillies

• The Phillies are a team I'm very familiar with. They're in the Marlins division, so I see them frequently. In April, I made my World Series predictions and the Phillies were my choice for National Leaue. I absolutely hate having to play them because they're such a talented group of guys. Being a Marlins fan, I'm really supposed to hate them, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to do so. Now, I'm not saying I want them to repeat or anything like that, but I don't mind them. They're a good bunch to watch!
• These guys seem to have it all. Starting pitching? Check. Power hitting? Check. Defense? Check. Bullpen? Half check...Cliff Lee is so dominant. Then you have Hamels, Happ, and Pedro, of course. And they have power bats and good defense with Utley, Howard, Victorino, Rollins, Ibanez, and last but DEFINITELY not least, Jayson Werth. The only question mark is the bullpen and closer situation, although they seemed to be okay lately. Between Lidge and Madson blowing games, I'm not sure what Charlie plans on doing. Only time will tell, but they'll be a fun team to watch this post season. I'm just not hoping for a repeat.

Colorado Rockies

• The Rockies are definitely a team to reckon with. They dominated like crazy this year, but will they be able to take down the defending champion Phillies? It's tough to tell. They definitely deserve to be where they are and they've proven themselves yet again. I jumped on the Rockies bandwagon in 2007, but fell off somewhere last year and never hopped back on. They're a fun and talented team to watch, just not one of my favorites.
• Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe are two fan favorites that will lead their team to a hopeful World Series spot this October. Only this time, they're hoping to bring the championship home to Denver, not send it to Boston. Solid starting pitching with Jiminez, Marquis, and Aaron Cook. And of course they have Huston Street as a closer. He had 35 saves this year and is one of my all-time favorite Oakland A's, but that's another story. The veteran leadership of guys like Helton, Barmes, and Giambi, mixed in with the young guys like Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez, will definitely make for an interesting October.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• What's this? Another LA team? It sure is. The Dodgers are not one of my favorite teams, but I like to see them where they are. I'm a big Joe Torre supporter, so I'm happy for him. This is a really strong team that definitely has a huge possibility of going all the way...
• This team is stacked with very talented players such as Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Russell Martin, I could go on and on. Jim Thome was a great mid-season addition to their ball club this year. Orlando Hudson is one of my favorite Dodgers because he's such a fun guy to watch play. Another addition was Jon Garland, whom I'm sure will help out quite a bit this post season, along with Kershaw, Padilla, and Billingsley. And of course they have a former Marlin, Mr. Juan Pierre! Gotta love him..

St. Louis Cardinals

• I like this team. I like 'em a lot. They're an extremely impressive ball club managed by, in my opinion, one of the best managers of all-time, Tony LaRussa. If you have never read the book "Three Nights in August" by Buzz Bissinger, I highly recommend that you give it a shot. You will have a much greater respect for LaRussa than ever before once you do.
• I'm adopting this team as my National League team this post season. I love Busch Stadium. I love St. Louis. I don't like the Cubs. And they're fabulous. What more can I say? Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are big-time studs. Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa were terrific grabs by the Cards! Brendan Ryan's 'stache creeps me out, but I still like him. Skip Schumaker is one of my favorites. And then there's Albert Pujols. The man is a boss. There's no other way to say it. He is an amazing person and an amazing player. How can you not cheer for him?

My Prediction in April: Yankees vs. Phillies World Series
My Prediction Now: Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series
My Wish: Angels vs. Cardinals World Series

There you have it...

Eight teams. One month. One Champion.

Will two teams from LA collide in the Fall Classic? Will the Phillies repeat? Will the Twins shock the world? Tune in all week on TBS to find out! Who will YOU be rooting for??

Here's to an awesome October full of MLB!! <3

Peace,
Love,
And October Baseball,

Sarah

Unfortunately, my Marlins hopes and dreams of play-off contention were dashed this week. But no hard feelings. 2009 was a long season full of ups and downs, and actually more positives than negatives, in my opinion. We fought pretty hard right up to the end and I'm extremely proud of my boys in teal.

The group of guys on this year's team are some of my favorite Marlins. From the experienced veterans to the up-and-coming rookies! There is no other team in baseball I'd rather spend my summer nights with. They were a joy to watch all season long and although our post season will be spent playing golf and taking vacations, I'm still proud of them. Each and every one of them (well, maybe not EVERY one) was a joy to watch and I look forward to seeing their progress next year.

Here's a summary of some of my favorite Marlins and their achievements throughout the 2009 season!

CC for ROY

• Chris Coghlan is a 24-year-old resident of Palm Harbor, Florida and a former Ole Miss student. He was our starting left fielder for majority of the 2009 season. He was called up in the beginning of May, but really stated his case for National League Rookie of the Year contention after the All-Star Break. He leads Major League Baseball in most hits after the All-Star Break, with 108. That's most by any NL rookie since Dick Allen in 1964. He is also the first rookie to have at least 47 hits in back-to-back months since Dale Mitchell in 1947.
  
• Coghlan is currently batting .317 with an OBP of .387 and a slugging percentage of .455. He has 45 RBI, 9 HR, 28 doubles, 6 triples, and 7 SB. He switched positions this year, transitioning from second base to left field. He also batted lead off, something he had never done before, and he still managed to put up great numbers and impress at the top of the line-up. His defense has also come a long way from where he started. Here's proof. So every baseball writer who has the wonderful honor of voting for such a prestigious award, should VOTE CC!
  

Uncle Wes and "Clutch" Gload

• I was extremely impressed with our veteran leadership this season and the team chemistry that went with it. Guys like Wes Helms and Ross Gload were not only fabulous clutch hitters, but also terrific role models for the young guys on our team.
  
• This pinch hit duo has combined for 35 total pinch hits. They brought the team together and pumped them up for some good old fashioned rallies all season long.
  
• Gload is a free agent after the season, but the club will likely come to some sort of deal with him. Helms is locked up for the next year with a 2-year, $1.9 million deal.

H2R

• Hanley Ramirez is a topic all himself...
  
• He is currently batting .341 and is in third place with the third highest batting average in the Majors, right behind Joe Mauer and Ichiro.
• Hanley has 24 HR, 105 RBI, 41 doubles, and 26 SB. He is in contention for National League MVP!
  
• All in all, fun to watch all season and I hope to see him in a Marlins uniform for many years to come!

Starting Rotation

• Going into the 2009 baseball season, many writers and analysts admired the Marlins for their wonderful pitching staff. Unfortunately, that, in a way, turned out to be our downfall...Josh Johnson was our only starting pitcher to be neither demoted, nor placed on the disabled list all season.
• JJ had a fantastic season, even being picked to be on the National League roster in the 2009 All-Star Game! He had a record of 15-5, with an ERA of 3.08.
• Ricky Nolasco ended the season with a 13-9 record, and a 5.06 ERA. When Ricky is on, he is ON. In my opinion, he has the ability and potential to have, get ready for it...better stuff than Josh Johnson. Sure, he had his struggles throughout the season, but doesn't everyone? It's a long season.
• Chris Volstad, Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller, Sean West, and Rick VandenHurk split time filling the other three roster spots, with a few starters out of the bullpen here and there.
• During the off-season, I think we need to work on acquiring a veteran starter to be the anchor of our rotation. A good experienced arm would do our rotation good.

Marlins Milestones in '09

• The Florida Marlins broke quite a bit of records this season and passed many milestones. To name a few...
• Dan Uggla was the first Marlin to record at least 30 home runs in three consecutive seasons.
• Ricky Nolasco broke AJ Burnett's record of 14 strikeouts in a game, with 16. That game, Nolasco also consecutively struck out nine, which was the first time since Jake Peavy did so in 2007.
• Ross Gload, with 20 pinch hits, set a new Marlins single season record.
• The Marlins had at least 10 hits in 15 consecutive games, the first time a team has done so since the 1937 St. Louis Browns. It was also the longest streak by a National League team since the New York Giants in 1929.
• Chris Coghlan had 46 hits in the month of August, which is the most hits in a month by any Marlin.
  
• On Opening Day of 2009, Emilio Bonifacio hit an in-the-park home run. That was the first time such a thing has happened since Carl Yastrzemski did so in 1968.
• I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that stuck out to me.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

• This year's good is Nick Johnson. Great acquisition.
  
• This year's bad is Renyel Pinto. Enough said.
• This year's ugly is Jeremy Hermida. Total fail.

My *Unlikely* Favorites

• These are going to be a bit personal...Throughout the season, as a fan, I've grown to love some of new guys and renew my love for some of the old ones, but through it all, I've come up with three of my favorite UNLIKELY Marlins of 2009. I'm sure they'll surprise you. I wasn't going with the obvious Hanley and Dan, so here goes...

1. Brett Carroll - He absolutely had to be on this list. BC is the type of guy that you just want to do well, someone you like to see succeed. He made the Opening Day roster out of Spring Training and did fairly well. He was demoted a couple times throughout the season and called back up too. The main reasons for the club sending him down was because we needed his roster spot for more arms in the 'pen. Carroll puts 100% of himself into all he does on the field. He works harder than any player I've seen. His numbers have improved offensively and he's really come into his own at the plate this year. Defensively, the guy's a gem. He's made some really amazing plays this season and shown that you shouldn't test his arm either, as he's been known to throw you out no matter where you are. Absolutely positively one of my top favorites! A great guy with a passion for the game like no other!
2. Cody Ross - Fun. That's exactly what this guy is. Fun! I enjoyed watching him all season long. He's one of the most fun players to watch. Whether he was making phenomenal diving plays in the oufield or at the plate. Great attitude, great player! What more could you ask for?
   
3. Brian Sanches - Definitely my favorite guy out of the bullpen. He's someone I was confident in throughout the year. He was consistent and a great arm to use in those mid to late innings. Love him!

This year has been an awesome one, despite not making the play-offs. We still had a winning season, we accomplished a great deal in the sport of baseball, and we came together as a team and put our all into every single game. That is all I can ask for.

Thank you, Marlins, for a fantastic season and thank you for all you do. It was an absolute pleasure watching you boys all season long and I'm proud to call myself a Marlins fan!

*More MLB Post Season action to come later. I'll give you my picks and views on it all.

Peace,
Love,
And TEAL Baseball,

Sarah

I apologize, yet again, for neglecting this blog of mine. A whole new semester of classes, a new job, and number of other things have distracted me. And if I'm not going to keep you up to date on the Fish, who is?? I mean, you can always check here, but that's beside the point.

The good news is that I'm back! And so are a crap load of September call-ups. One being first baseman Gaby Sanchez who hit his first Major League home run on Saturday, in front of 38,214 fans at Land Shark Stadium. 18,500 of those were fans, students, or people associated with the University of Miami, Sanchez's alma mater. How appropriate!

Outfielder Cameron Maybin is also back, along with catcher Brett Hayes, infielder Andy Gonzalez, and pitchers Burke Badenhop, Rick VandenHurk, Andrew Miller, Brendan Donnelly, and Chris Volstad. For now, our starting rotation consists of Ricky Nolasco, Sean West, Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, and Chris Volstad, which allows Miller and VandenHurk to get some work out of the 'pen. Fredi would eventually like to find a way to get Miller back in the rotation, but we'll see how he does in relief first.

Jeremy Hermida has been out for a few days with a sore oblique. I'm not happy about this, but it doesn't really bother me either. He has been a major weak link for this team. I'm a lot happier with Carroll and Ross in the line-up, or even Maybin in there, over Hermida. Nothing personal. He just does nothing for us...

Chris Coghlan on the other hand, does a hell of a lot for us! He's a great lead-off bat, and has really worked hard to become an everyday left fielder, which was quite the transition from second base. He is currently batting .306 with 40 RBIs, 9 homers, 21 doubles, and 50 walks. He has really proven himself in the big leagues and shown what he is capable of. He provides good at-bats and has worked on his defense as well. The improvements are extremely noticeable. There have been talks of Coghlan being a possible contender for the Rookie of the Year award. Many have said that he shouldn't be in contention because he started to get hot after the All-Star Break, but others say he's worthy of the award either way. He has some stiff competition, with Phillies JA Happ, Pirates Andrew McCutchen, Rockies Dexter Fowler, Cardinals Colby Rasmus, Brewers Casey McGehee, and many more. In my opinion, Coghlan deserves it. He's switched positions and he was thrown in at the top of the line-up, where he's never batted before, and he's done an incredible job both at the plate and in the field. Sure, I may be a bit biased, but can you blame me? :)

In other Marlins news, about a week ago, a shouting match broke out in the clubhouse between Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. The night before, Hanley asked to be taken out of the line-up because his hamstring was bothering him. Apparently, Uggla had a problem with this and called him out, claiming he cared more about his numbers than the team winnings games. Hanley fought back and supposedly said he only felt 10% healthy to play. This is when Fredi ordered for the clubhouse to be closed to the media and a private meeting was held. It's difficult to give you my opinion on the situation because it's not just a black and white subject. I mainly want to agree with Dan because it's about time someone called Hanley out. Hanley's an amazing player and I respect what he does on the field, but sometimes I feel like he only cares about his numbers and his personal growth as a player, rather than caring about how the team is playing. I may be completely wrong about this, but that's the way I see I view things. Another part of me wants to agree with Hanley because he is out there everyday trying to win games and I feel like maybe Dan just got upset because we weren't playing to the best of our ability. Either way, the disagreement was cleared up and everyone was all good. I guess that happens sometimes when you're traveling with these guys and constantly with them for six months out of the year. Sometimes tempers are going to boil over. I do feel like it brought us closer as a team though, and put into perspective what's really important, which is winning games.

We are currently nine games above .500, trailing the Phillies by 6.5 games in the NL East and 5.5 games back in the NL Wild Card, behind the Rockies and Giants. We start a four-game series with the Cardinals tonight, then we're off to Cincinnati for the weekend. We play six more games against the Phillies, three more in Atlanta, and a weekend series at home versus the Mets. If we're gonna make a run for it, now's the time to do it, or it'll be too little too late.


Peace,
Love,
And TEAL Baseball,

Sarah

You know what they say, hitting is contagious. This is true, but could pitching be contagious too? Probably not, but Josh Johnson's amazingness must have rubbed off on Ricky Nolasco. Or maybe Ricky was just feeling the pressure to step things up? Either way, he came out last night and pitched one hell of a game!

Ricky pitched his second career complete game. He threw 115 total pitches, 80 of those were strikes. He gave up two runs on three hits, including a home run to Carlos Lee. He also struck out 10 batters and walked zero. Both Astros runs were scored in the first inning. After that, Ricky really got into his zone and was just unbeatable. The run support for Nolasco was great! Uggla hit his 22nd homer of the year. Cantu and Hermida also homered, and Hanley went 3-for-5 with a stolen base.

Last night we had 11 total hits. This extended our streak and marked a milestone. We have now had at least 10 hits in 14 consecutive games. This is the longest streak since the 1937 Browns hit in 15 straight.

INJURY NEWS & ROSTER MOVES:
~ Nick Johnson is still out with his strained hamstring. He is day-to-day but should be back by this weekend.
~ Gaby Sanchez was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans and Rick VandenHurk was demoted.
~ Anibal Sanchez seems to be doing well in his rehab starts. He will most likely start Friday night in Atlanta, in the open rotation spot.


Go Marlins :)


Peace,
Love,
and TEAL Baseball,

Sarah