Stat Wrap 7/15: Marlins Rally Past Cardinals, Concerns

Let’s call this one a true case of two birds with one stone.

First and foremost, the Miami Marlins won a hard fought victory against the St. Louis Cardinals by the final score of 7-6 Friday night at Busch Stadium.  The win puts Miami 7 games over .500 for the first time since June 5, 2012, and creates two games of distance between the Marlins and the Cardinals for the last NL Wild Card spot.

They were able to get that win in a game where the first two pitchers to take the mound in defense of their cause surrendered four home runs, and on a night the offense had 10 runners left on base.  But All-Stars A.J. Ramos and Fernando Rodney righted the ship, and two late-inning rallies capped by a Miguel Rojas RBI single in the top of the 9th washed away all worry and secured the victory.

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But that’s only half the story.  The real take away here is that a Redbird is not a Red.

True, one game does not a season make, or a series for that matter.  But despite the that rush of joy from closing out the first half with the second best record at that point in franchise history, followed by Giancarlo Stanton‘s mic-dropping performance in the Home Run Derby, followed by this year’s cast of All-Stars tying a Marlins record for players in the game, and said All-Stars arguably playing better in the game itself than any group sent this century, there’s a really crucial point that needs to be remembered.

That series against the Reds, a team will soon start selling off parts faster than Legoland, was the only series the Marlins had outright won in four attempts. Questions were starting to creep up on the club, questions touching on topics like focus and fatigue, or perhaps even more darkly, contender or pretender.

Winning yesterday, flashing that much fight against a fellow playoff aspirant, against baseball’s Patriots (the Giants are the Seahawks), says as much about the moxie of this team as that sweep of lowly Cincinnati.

And now we Stat Wrap:

• Ichiro Watch: The legend is 9 hits away, thanks to a pinch-hit single.
• Eight-game hitting streak for Giancarlo Stanton.
• More importantly, he’s driven in a run in five of his last six games.
• The Marlins have now won 4 games in a row for the third time this season.
• The 2015 club pulled that off three times during the entire season. 
• Fernando Rodney picked up his first win of 2016.
• Not to be outdone, A.J. Ramos nailed down his 28th save.
• Every Marlins starter not named Chen had at least one hit.
• Every Marlin not named Chen who had an at-bat reached base.