Marlins take two!

Mother Nature decreed that the Fish play a double-header on Sunday, and the Marlins shook off the rain drops, the emabarrassment of being the first team to lose to Zito and some sketchy pitching to give themselves another series win and a 6-3 homestand. The beat just continues to go on; both winning runs were provided by Dan Uggla, who has clearly been motivated by my blog a few weeks ago that said he didn't even deserve All-Star consideration. (My foot is squarely in my mouth as I type this).  I haven't seen an Astros game lately and I know all I keep hearing is how hot Lance Berkman is, but it is tough to envision a hitter having a better month than Uggla.  The second best day went to Jorge Cantu (who was also clearly motivated by me because I benched him in my fantasy league for the first time all year) who was on base 7 times and hit 2 home runs.  Since Cantu was in a slump is was good to see him bust out of it, especially with him hitting in the third hole.  By Hanley returning to leadoff spot and with Hammer still on the DL, Cantu must carry his weight in the middle of the lineup, and he clearly has responded over the weekend.  If he starts to falter though, the Marlins could always bat Hendrickson third......

Despite his average being a mean .333 (Micah Owings who?) and his record moving to 7-2, Hendrickson struggled pitching today.  5 runs in 5 innings in the front end of double dip isn't getting the job done, but he did get a HUGE double play from Castillo with the bases loaded. (At least for today, it looks like the Marlins choice to go with Cantu over Castillo in Spring training was a no-brainer).  Gregg continues to look as unhittable as ever, picking up a save and a win, and overall the bullpen did a good job in their 11 innings of work.  Though De La Cruz did make me reach for my blood pressure pills in the first inning of game 2 (seen through Gameday on MLB.com, thanks DirecTv for NOT broadcasting game 2) giving up 2 runs in 3 innings in an emergency start isn't all that bad I suppose.  A double-header sweep is always a great day no matter how it came about, now on to Shea!!!

6 games into this tough 16 game stretch, and the Marlins are 5-1.  If they can go 6-4 on the 3 city, 11 day gauntlet, that would give them an 11-5 record in those games and send a message to those who dismissed them as club that can only beat other teams with losing records.  It will be nice to see the Marlins playing a local team the next 3 days. Hopefully they will get some good press in my area.  Then again, that's only if the Post and News stop bashing Randolph.  That is a story for another day though. With Pelfrey and a formidable TBD for the Mets slated for the first 2 games, it would be nice to get the trip off to a good start and win the series against a team that is actually below .500 right now.  First place Fish are hitting the road!!!! Let's show the rest of the division that this team is for real!!!!

P.S. A very special congratulations to Omar Vizquel for setting the record for most games ever by a shortstop.  Think about that,  Most games EVER.  Wow. Wow. Wow.

Also, welcome to Jacque Jones.  With a sac fly on Sunday, maybe he will show this offense that sometimes small ball isn't a bad thing.