Alvarez, Marlins Drop Series Finale to Angels

The Marlins needed an impeccable outing from Henderson Alvarez to have a chance to win Wednesday night. Unfortunately, the usually steady Alvarez experienced a blip on his fantastic season, and the Marlins fell 6-1 in the series finale with the Los Angeles Angels.

The bats were again silent in L.A. as Miami stranded 7 runners, and other than a solo home run by Adeiny Hechavarria, were unable to muster anything resembling an offense. The lone bright spot was Hech’s 1st home run of the season. A shot to center field was enough to get the job done, and the Marlins bench responded by giving the shortstop the silent treatment for his home run.

Aug 27, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA;

The 1-0 lead was short-lived however, as the Angels answered back with 3 runs in the bottom of the frame, including an RBI single by all-star Mike Trout. That was all Hector Santiago would need. Santiago allowed 1 ER in 5.2 innings striking out Marlins’ hitters 6 times. Miami had another 11 strikeout night, and are still well on their way to setting a Marlins franchise record for strikeouts in a season.

Another negative on the night was Steve Cishek allowing another run in the 9th inning. This was of the unearned variety, but it is still disconcerting to see him not as dominant as he was earlier in the season.

Miami will shift their focus back to the east coast as they head to Atlanta to take on the divisional rival Braves’. The Marlins now sit 2 games under .500, and the gap in the wild card hunt is widening. The Fish find themselves 5 games behind the second wild card spot currently owned by the San Francisco Giants.

Miami will need to have an exceptional series against the Braves to insert themselves back into the wild card discussion. Do you think that they have a chance? Let us know in the comments below.