Brewing Up a Win

With only 3 days left in April the Marlins remain atop the NL East, and for the second time this month return home from a winning road trip.  Sunday's game was not only the 'rubber' game for the Milwaukee series, but for the entire road trip as well.  After splitting the first 2 series against the Pirates and Braves, the Marlins earned every bit of their 2 wins in Wisconsin- against the team with the best home record in the Majors last season (according to one report I read, so I'm assuming it is correct). Sunday's win was a huge statement game, and another step forward for this ball club. 3-4 and 4-3 on a 7 game road trip might not seem like a big difference, but the good teams find ways to win games that make it a winning trip. Those extra wins go a long way in the standings later on in the season.

Every game against the Brewers was tight, and each team had chances to blow each game open, but neither really did. Maybe they were all full and lathargic from wolfing down all that Brats and cheese in ways that would make Kobayashi proud (I know I would be).  Maybe Prince Fielder turned vegan because he figured out that he would be pushing 350 this season if he didn't (and I'm not talking about his batting average)...Anyway; In the end the difference in the 2 extra-inning wins was the Florida bullpen slamming the door and giving the offense time to score.  It's a shame that starters didn't get the win in either game, especially Olsen, but you have to give the Brewers' starters some credit as well,  Their gameplan was to limit the longball against Florida, and throw as few fastballs as humanly possible to the hitters. There were a ton of 2-0, 3-1, 3-2 breaking balls and changeups thrown by the Brew crew, and not all by proven ptitchers with great command either.  I think this offense will have to make an adjustment, because the word is out now about how good they are, and they must learn some patience because they're not always going to get a fastball in a traditional fastball count.  That being said, they put good swings on some tough pithces by Mota on Friday, and in the middle innings against Parra as well. And you can live with only scoring 3 runs when your pitching is holding down the other team.

Which was one good thing to see, not only against the tough Brewers offense, but on the road trip in general. Even with Badenhop's start, which was really only one bad inning, the Marlins gave up just 22 runs in 7 games....a hair over 3 a game.  Any team will have a chance to win when the score is low, let alone one with an offense like this.  Olsen was outstanding again, lowering his ERA to just above 2, Hendrickson continues to be solid, and Nolasco- who could have easily folded in the first inning Sunday, pulled it together and kept his team in the game despite having control issues. Miller got his first win as Marlin with some Houdini-esque work of his own.  Other than the 2 solo homers given up by the lefties, the pen didn't allow another run to score the rest of the weekend series.  Good stuff all around.

So after Wes Helms told the boo-birds in Milwaukee where they can stick it, the Marlins await the Dodgers, with a few familair faces to boot; Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre.  Hopefully there won't be another 10-run outburst in the first inning like they had against the Rockies on Saturday.  Guess former Marlin Mark Redman doesn't have it anymore- Yikes.  Lowe is going to pitch Tuesday despite a sore arm.  I remember the game he pitched last year against Mitre.  That was fun to watch the 2 sinkerballers go at it for just about the whole game.  Josh 'Wheels' Willingham (who scored from first on a double this weekend) hit a game-winning homerun off Lowe in that game.  Tough homestand with 3 each against the Dodgers, Padres and Brewers.  6-3 would be nice, let's see what happens

In other news......the Marlins actaully made it on to SportsCenter this morning. They were the last 'excuse me' highlight before the top ten plays......The rotation is going to be shuffled around with Badenhop pitching between Olsen and Hendrickson.  Not only does it split up the lefties, it also gives the bullpen a breather so they won't have to pitch 15-16 innings in 3 games. Good move by Fredi.......So Baseball Tonight did a segment on a team doing the exact same thing- shuffling its roation to save the bullpen, but it was on the 4th place Yankees. Guess it's a better story when a team with the highest payroll in the league is on the cellar doorstep than when a team with the lowest payroll is in the penthouse?  Then again, bad press for the Yankees is always good news to me!