So close, yet so far....

Despite what my 'tag cloud' will tell you, the Florida Marlins are now in second place in the NL East, thanks to this weekend series in Philly.  The Phillies took two of three from the Marlins, and by doing so took first place away from the Fish.  Actually, I think it was more like Waechter left first place right over the plate for the taking, and Jenkins was more than happy to put it in the outfield seats.  Combine that with 2 errors, (ANOTHER ONE BY CANTU) one on a nice-idea-but-botched-execution pickoff, hit batters and wild pitches you had yourself a 7-5 loss when the dust settled. The Phillies played some nice defense in this game as well.  I think that there is a crater where Ryan Howard dove into the ground to catch a bunt by Jones, but Howard made a helluva play to get there. (See Florda, see what happens when your defense takes outs AWAY from the opposition instead of giving them EXTRA ones!?)

The one thing that I learned from watching this series, specifically the game today, is that the Marlins were playing a better version of themselves.  When you look at the makeup of these 2 teams, they have a lot of similarities between them.  The Marlins have a good lineup, with numerous threats to jack one out at any given time.  The Phillies have the same thing, only with some hitters like Victorino, Utley and Burrell who will take a walk and hit for average as well as power.  The Marlins strength of their pitching staff is the bullpen, just like the Phillies.  But Lidge is much more proven than Gregg, and the Phillies' bullpen ERA is the best in NL. Florida's pen has gotten roughed up a little on the road trip so far, perhaps a byproduct of them pitching so many innings already.  In the 6 games on the trip, only 1 starter, Nolasco, has gone longer than 5 innings.  And it was one of the two that they have won so far! Who knew?

I didn't turn this game on today until it was 5-1 Marlins, (I was doing some charity work earlier in the morning. It is good for the Feng Shui of the soul they say, or something like that) And needless to say I was more than pleasantly surprised with the score. Mainly beacuse Moyer has never lost to Florida in his career, and when I found out that Jacobs had 2 homers off the southpaw, I was even more excited.  Jake has been in a but of a slump himself, so if he starts swinging like he did in early April, look out! Andrew Miller pitched....like a young rookie who has some promising potential; but all in all that is better than he has been for the majority of the season.  He only allowed 2 earned runs in 5, but walks were a issue for him early on (as per Tommy Hutton).  The reason that the Marlins lost this important rubber game today was lack of execution on their end, and the Phillies doing their part.  Philly took advantage of the Marlins errors and pushed across an unearned run early in the game.  Then in the 6th, enter Doug Waechter. I didn't approve of his call-up when Gardner went on the DL, but he has actually pitched extremely well in his role as a long man.  I just have too many memories of him having bad games as a (Devil) Ray.  He immediately made his presence known by walking Pat Burrell to lead off the inning, and then Jenkins, who was 0-9 as a PH this year, smacked a bp fastball into the right-field seats and suddenly the Marlins lead had completely evaporated. Then in the 7th, after Cody Ross hit a single (a 1-bagger for Cody? that's gonna kill his slugging %).  Mr. Jacque Jones was called on to bunt.  Listen, Jones' average and RBI total should be signifigantly higher than what they are, because he has hit some screaming line drives that have been caught in his short time as a Marlin.  However, he was called on to bunt with no outs in the inning, and lined the bunt right to Ryan Howard, who was charging from first.  As I said earlier, Howard made a terrific play on the ball, but he only was given the chance to because Jones got under the ball.  If Jones executes the bunt properly and puts it on the ground, it is a productive out.  Instead, he might as well have swung and missed 3 times because Ross was stuck on first, and a double play ensued.

Next inning, Enter Taylor Tankersley.  Whatever happened to Tank?  After a great rookie season, he has really taken steps backwards the last 2 years.  He came in with Victorino at first, and did a great job holding him on.  Then after he got Ultey to pop-up (only about 120 feet, not his 390 foot pop flys to the right field seats he was hitting all weekend).  That brought up Howard, who was 0-5 with 5 strikouts in his career against Tank.  Well, Taylor would have none of it.  He made sure that Howard wouldn't get that first hit off of him...by drilling him in the back with a fastball!  So the leftie 'specialist' didn't do his job. Enter Logan Kensing, and 1 wild pitch and double by Burrell later, exit the tied ballgame. Even though Flash Gordon walked Gonzo to lead off the 8th, the Marlins would go quietly after the Burrell double.

So, let's recap shall we? (This is no Bob Murphy 'happy recap' either) A short start, 2 errors, a botched bunt, walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch.....that is no way to beat a first place team.  The Florida Marlins certainly competed today, but the flaws of this team came to the forefront....as they often do in big games.  Only 1/2 game out of first (technically 1 game up in loss column) on June 2nd? I'll take it, but there are areas of their game that the Fish will have to improve upon if they expect to stay in contention the rest of the way.  And it must start tomorrow night against Atlanta.  The Marlins need a big start from Olsen, who didn't give up a run in his last outing against the Braves.  They will be taking on Jo-Jo Reyes, and hopefully will get this 4 game series off to a good start.  (Yes, the pun was intended, Mr. Olsen)

No pictures are present because Verizon is apparently having a fight with my internet.  I like to spruce up my blog so it's not all black and white text and to draw the attention away from my 10 or so typos that I miss every entry. So be sure to check back (yea right) tomorrow for a more colorful take on this game.