Stat Wrap 6/11 : Miami Marlins Blow Lead Against D-Backs

Last night was painful- pure and simple.

For the first 5 2/3 innings of work, Jose Fernandez was throwing a perfect game, the Marlins had a two-run lead, and the view from the pricey seats purchased for last night’s Jose Day start of beautiful Chase Field couldn’t have been better.

And then the sixth inning continued to happen.  And continued some more.  And then bludgeoned my spirit.  And then proceeded to actually be bad enough that my wife realized this was pretty upsetting. The Arizona Diamondbacks, sparked by a Michael Bourn home run (he last did that in 2014, when he dazzled fans with a three homer season), reeled off a five-hit, four-run inning that ended Jose’s night and put the Fish in a hole they couldn’t climb out of despite many, many chances.  The Marlins lost to Arizona 5-3 Saturday night in Phoenix, evening the series at a game a piece.

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Martin Prado had an amazing night, going 4 for 5 at the plate and managing to throw a ball into the stands to a perfect semicircle of seven fans around me, without risking my realization of a lifetime dream of obtaining a ball.  To be fair though, I did have the misfortune of sitting in a section that contained seven Marlins fans under the age of ten; Prado drew wide applause from even the Diamondbacks faithful for his obvious interest in looking after the little fans in attendance.  He also, of course, spent a year and half at Chase Field, and it would seem many warmly remembered him.  It was one of the more glaringly obvious examples I’ve seen live of what a good guy a player is, and was neat to see.  Especially when he’d stare down large men in D-Backs gear who tried to reach past the kids to the balls.

Despite piling up nine hits as a team, the Marlins left a whopping ten runners on-base, compared to just two stranded Diamondbacks.  Marcell Ozuna homered late for his 12th blast of the year, but that was the only contribution of any kind from the Ozuna/Giancarlo Stanton/Justin Bour trio; Stanton went 0 for 3, only reaching after being hit by a pitch.  Mike Dunn turned in another worrying bullpen performance, though Nick Wittgren continued to demonstrate why he was regarded as one of the better relief prospects in the organization coming into the year.

And now we Stat Wrap:

• Ichiro Watch: Pinch-hit infield single puts him 26 away from 3000.
• J.T. Realmuto showed some Realpower with his third homer of the year.
• He’s batting .305. Think about it. Heehee, represent Miami, represent.
• Unfortunately, there’s nothing funny about Stanton’s .195 average.
• Ozuna hit his team leading 12th long ball on a 1 for 5 night.
• Prado went 4 for 5, tying Ozuna for the team batting lead among regulars.
• Fernandez had a perfect game for 5 2/3 innings.
• And then gave up five hits and four runs before his next out, earning the loss.
• This was my first live Marlins game of 2016.  He last lost on my birthday, over a month ago.  I might have to take this personally at some point.