| Chris Hoyler. 23rd August, 2005 - 1:00 am
 I apologize for the lack of an article for last week, as I was in transit all week and never really got settled and ready to look over the games. Never fear, though, I am here in all my pessimistic glory to review the past two weeks that is the Florida Marlins rollercoaster.
The Weeks Behind
Rocky Mountain Low
When the Marlins boarded their charter at beautiful Denver International Airport last Monday evening, that collective feeling of light-headedness was not the effects of the altitude. It was the slow, sinking truth of what had just occurred 25 miles away at Coors Field. The Blake Street Bombers may be a thing of the past, but Denny Ardoin and Dustan Mohr did their part in conjuring memories of game winning home runs past, leading the Rockies to wins of 4-3 and 5-3 for a doubleheader sweep.
In what was easily the most gut-wrenching loss of the season, Josh Beckett threw six innings, seemingly in a jam in each frame after an easy first. Give Beckett credit though, 110 pitches later and he had his 14th quality start in 20 trips to the mound in 2005. Ron Villone was outstanding in relief, but an errant throw on a Cory Sullivan bunt cost him a blown save, as that two base error to lead off the inning allowed Sullivan to score on a one out sacrifice bunt by Ardoin. While the FSN TV guys can gush about how Mike Lowell has bounced back from his embarrassingly bad first half, I for one am still extremely upset with the inconsistency of his performance. He left three men on base in Game One, including Miguel Cabrera and Luis Castillo with two outs in the tenth. When teams are willing to intentionally walk Miggy to get to Lowell, there is a problem with the batting order. I know that on that particular day, McKeon was stuck with Aguila and Treanor, who of course have to hit at the bottom, but now that the lineup is in full force again, I don?t want to see Lowell anywhere near an RBI spot. In the regular lineup, he should hit no higher than 7th until he proves that he can hit with men in scoring position. No need recapping the events leading to the Rox win, as Valerio De Los Santos grooved a 0-2 fastball to Dustan Mohr, who promptly parked it 440 feet away in right center. It was quite possibly the worst pitch sequence by a Marlins hurler this season, as the ball was so dead red that it would have taken a hitter of Rey Ordonez proportions to not hit it out.
Just when it seemed like Game One was set to be a bad memory, the Marlins and Rockies played Game Two. Fortunately, this one was not televised by either team, so I was spared the agony of having to watch the sweep occur live. Sadly for you, my cherished reader, I purchased a month?s worth of MLB.TV last weekend, so I watched parts of the game and have plenty to rant about. Before I pick apart this, Act 2 of the Marlins worst day of the season, let me explain why I?m so upset.
The Rockies are one of the worst teams in the National League, no matter how you slice it. In the physical standings, they are the worst; in the statistical standings, such as the Pythagorean Standings or Beane Count, they are in the bottom third of the league. They are a better team at home (most teams in the majors are), but the Marlins came to town with a chance that they will not have for the remainder of the season. They came to Denver with a chance to gain, at a minimum, one game in the standings on their wild card competitors, many of which had the day off.
B.K Kim continued his slow rise to regaining lost credibility as a viable major leaguer, holding the Fish to 3 runs in 7 innings before turning it over to Mike DeJean and Brian Fuentes, who stopped the Marlins cold to complete the sweep 5-3. Kim seems to have worked his arm strength up to this point, where he is now able to be sent to the mound every fifth day without setting the over/under at home runs allowed at 5. His breaking stuff was sharp, and in a development that defines the season for the Florida offense, the bats began to swing meekly at first pitch fastballs, rather than letting Kim run the count like he had been in previous outings. Six pitches in the sixth inning changed this game in several fashions, at the time seemingly altering the Marlins playoff path for good. Alex Gonzalez did a great job standing in on a 0-2 count and blasting a game-tying double off the base of the right center field wall. The at-bat was a microcosm of what the Marlins had done at their offensive peak this season; Kim embarrassed Gonzalez with a late-breaking slider that ended up five feet out of the zone to open the sequence. On the next pitch, Gonzalez moved in on the box and was jammed, breaking his bat on the handle while fouling off a fastball to the first base side. With a new stick in hand, Gonzalez sat back on a slider that hung like a Frisbee over the middle part of the plate, and while he didn?t get his power swing on it, he pulled it enough to have the Coors air cooperate and take it over RF Matt Holliday?s head and bounce by him while he retrieved it. It was the shining moment of the day, as Ismael Valdez proceeded to throw three terrible pitches to lead off the bottom half of the frame. After a ball to open the sequence with Aaron Miles, Valdez hung a changeup that Miles hit into the right center field gap for a double. Next pitch, Ardoin ends the game. Valdez hung a curveball in the exact same spot, and Ardoin powered it the other way into the bullpen in right field. If Valdez starts another game this season, with Moehler and Vargas in reserve, McKeon will need his head and his cigars examined for brain damaging effects.
Weekend Warriors
Florida worked their way down the NL West food chain, welcoming 4th place San Francisco to Miami for a three game set. You people should be honored, as it has become clear to me that at least one member of the Florida Marlins organization reads this column. Since my opening rampage on Jack McKeon?s handling of the pitching staff, namely AJ Burnett and Dontrelle Willis, the starting pitching has carried the team to their current stretch of dominance on the mound.
The aforementioned Willis opened on Friday evening against fellow southpaw Noah Lowry, who has been pitching as well as anyone in the National League since the All Star Break. The game was, as expected, a pitcher?s duel, and the Giants made Willis pay for his lone mistake while the Marlins failed to capitalize on the scarce opportunities they had. Randy Winn crushed a flat, 89 MPH fastball over the scoreboard in left with one out in the sixth, and Lowry combined with Jeremy Accardo and Tyler Walker to hold the Marlins to four hits. Lowry was pulled with one out in the eighth, but not before he set Florida up with their best chance to break the string of zeros on the scoreboard. Chris Aguila destroyed a hanging, 74 MPH curve, slicing it like a tee shot towards the left field corner. Unfortunately for the Marlins, that arc took what looked like a sure home run and hooked it inches foul. Aguila struck out on the next pitch, a picture perfect 89 MPH fastball on the inside corner. Lowry allowed a single to Juan Pierre and a walk to Luis Castillo before giving way to Accardo, but his battle with Aguila captured how strong Lowry?s outing was. Rather than becoming discouraged in his stuff after giving up a foul home run, Lowry challenged Aguila on the next pitch and kept coming at JP and Luis. It was a very impressive effort that showed the quality makeup of a kid that is going to become the Giants ace in short time.
Beckett and AJ Burnett put up superlative efforts to cap off the series with Marlin victories of 2-1 and 4-1. Beckett was efficient in throwing a four hit, complete game gem, needing only 106 pitches to put the Giants away. His lone mistake was a solo HR allowed to Pedro Feliz to leadoff the second, as JP helped stifle a Giants rally in the eighth. With one out and Todd Linden on second, Mike Matheny ripped a single over Castillo?s head into center. JP was charging from the second the ball came off the bat, coming up throwing immediately after retrieving the ball. Linden looked like he had a good jump, but Matt Treanor stayed in his low crouch and blocked the plate, fielding the one hop throw perfectly and taking a vicious shoulder from Linden to the top of his helmet, sending it soaring 10 feet behind the plate. Treanor rose and held the ball, then went from his knees to his back in wobbly fashion, preserving the Marlins one run lead. It was a play that can change a season, hopefully in a positive fashion for Florida.
Burnett was outstanding again, as he and Willis continue to make my late July eulogy of their season look more and more imprudent with each passing outing.
California Dreamin?
Those of you who read my article on the Padres viability in the playoffs know that I am enamored with Jake Peavy, San Diego?s unknown ace. Well, in the regular season, Peavy does not have quite the profound effect on a series that he would in the playoffs, leaving the Marlins a chance to work on Brian Lawrence and Woody Williams, two of San Diego?s more, shall we say, non-Peavy starters. With Vargas? run of awesome starts curbed in a 4-2 Padre victory on Tuesday, Willis was once again faced with a new, exciting role: Stopper. If Willis was unable to give McKeon and the offense one of his patented ?D-Train? performances, the ones the carried the team in the first half, the odds of being swept by the leader of a national joke would grow exponentially. Luckily for Jack and company, Willis did just that, allowing just 6 base runners in a complete game, 6-0 victory. Carlos Delgado put the game away in the opening frame with a two run blast that landed deep in the right field seats. With Castillo and Cabrera out of the lineup, the supporting cast of Pierre, Jeff Conine and Alex Gonzalez contributed just enough to overshadow the fact that the Marlins final 19 batters were retired by Williams, Rudy Seanez and Chris Hammond. It is that offensive inconsistency that was epitomized by Cabrera?s day off. When Cabrera struck out with men on the corners and two outs in the ninth in Tuesday?s loss, he looked lethargic, letting Trevor Hoffman have his way with his 87 MPH fastballs getting the first two strikes. McKeon said he sat Cabrera because he needed to relax, stop trying to carry the club on his back. For once, McKeon had sound reasoning in an on-field decision this season, one that will go a long way to rejuvenating Cabrera for the stretch run.
Peavy and Beckett went toe to toe on Thursday evening, and for one night, all the bad that came from the Marlins disastrous trip to Colorado evaporated from the fiery demeanor of Beckett. When he allowed the first two Padres to reach on singles in the seventh, his body language did not change. After a sacrifice put both runners in scoring position with one out, he reached down and threw a 97 MPH fastball to Eric Young, drawing a pop up to the Lowell on the first pitch. Young was looking for the fastball the entire way, thus drawing the first pitch swing, but was terribly jammed by one of Beckett?s best pitches of the night. When Robert Fick stepped up next and played the waiting game, swinging only once in a seven pitch, full count walk, Beckett was not fazed. He missed the corner on both 2 strike pitches that would have ended the inning, yet did not change his strategy to Dave Roberts with the bases loaded and the game on the line. The near 90? heat combined with a 16 pitch inning to visibly fatigue Beckett, his face and neck drenched as he delivered a 76 MPH curveball right on the black of the outside corner, showing no lost confidence in his stuff that baffled Fick just seconds earlier. Strike one. It was in the exact same spot that Fick earned his walk on; maybe home plate umpire Mike Winters realized he had made a mistake. Roberts, his slightly open stance dug into the box, just missed a 97 MPH fastball, fouling it over the top and straight back behind the plate. Strike two. The customarily sparse Dolphins Stadium crowd of 17,780 rose to its feet, its rise in volume rivaling that of a playoff game. Roberts backed out of the box and the crowd voiced its disapproval, as if to tease him about a fear of his fate, that delaying the inevitable makes it sweeter for them. When he stepped back in, Beckett was waiting, and he delivered his 99th pitch with the same movement and velocity he did his first. Split finger, the pitch that earned him a World Series MVP, and at 81 MPH in the dirt, Roberts could do nothing but swing feebly at it. Strike three. Beckett snaps his head and yells something as he walks the mound, with the overjoyed crowd giving him his well deserved standing ovation. The Padres still had six outs to play with, but the game was over. Villone and Todd Jones pitched identical eighth and ninth innings, allowing one hit but otherwise retiring San Diego with ease, wrapping up a much needed series win. The Marlins were six games over .500 for the first time since May 30th (27-21). With Los Angeles coming to town and Burnett on the hill for Game One, Florida looked ready to hit their peak in the standings at just the right time.
They Love LA
The winning 2 out of 3 thing has become a nice trend for the Marlins, doing exactly that in all of their 3 game series in August. The real revelation in the final series of the 12 game, 13 day home stand was the emergence of Vargas as a viable 4th starter.
Burnett continued his streak of dominance on Friday, going 8 innings and allowing just seven base runners while striking out nine. It was his 12th win of the season and 49th of his career, setting the franchise record previously held by current Dodger Brad Penny. Penny had the last laugh on Saturday, though; as his teammates picked him up off of a 5 inning, six run effort by scoring six of their own in the final three innings. The 11-6 win in the series? middle match up ended the Marlins? 28 innings scoreless streak in spectacular fashion, with Moehler crashing and burning in his attempt to solidify the fifth starter spot. Valdez picked him up with 4 serviceable innings in relief, but Antonio Alfonseca walked the game away in the 7th after inheriting Villone?s mess. It was that case of inconsistency biting the Marlins in the backside again, with the offense holding up their end of the bargain but the bullpen playing Jekyll and Hyde with a good start (Valdez) and a terrible finish (Villone, Alfonseca, Mota).
Jason Vargas: Stopper. It?s a nice new notch to add to the belt of the 22 year old, whose previous three starts had come following Florida victories. Just a few hours after blowing a big opportunity (Every Marlins opponent in the standings lost on Saturday, save for the Mets), Vargas led the Marlins with eight strong innings and two big RBIs, all that was needed in a 7-1 win. He did exactly what he needed to, which was stick with what worked in his previous starts. Vargas changed speeds very well and kept the Dodgers off balance, and while they rallied slightly late in the game, the NL is clearly taking its time catching up to the hot rookie. Vargas has established himself as the key to pitching success in the stretch run, especially as it becomes clear that the Big Three are set in ?dominate? mode. If he produces like this in the month of September, the Marlins will not only win the Wild Card but challenge the Braves for the division.
Any comments, questions or ideas regarding this article or future articles can be sent to mosley2k@hotmail.com. I appreciate any and all feedback. |
