July 14, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins center fielder

Line drive singles.  Base hits behind the lead runner. Sacrifice bunts. Suicide squeezes.  All of these classic baseball ingredients were blended together last night in a 5-3 Marlins win over the Nationals.  Despite giving up eight hits and four walks, Carlos Zambrano yielded only three earned runs, one of which was atoned for when he ignited a 4-run rally in the third inning with a sharp line drive single. Ten pitches later, Carlos Lee drove him across the plate with a 2-RBI double. Shortly thereafter, Hanley Ramirez lit the fish for two runs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, emerging slugger Justin Ruggiano doubled while pinch hitting for Zambrano, then reached third on a Jose Reyes sacrifice bunt. The sacrifice set up the next play, a suicide squeeze.  As Ruggiano broke for home, Emilio Bonifacio laid a sacrifice bunt down the first base line, flushing catcher Jesus Flores from behind the plate to throw Bonifacio out at first.

Wade LeBlanc, Ryan Webb, and Randy Choate handled the top of the seventh, setting up Heath Bell for the eighth. After giving up a leadoff single, Bell retired the next three batters. Mike Dunn got the nod for the close (and his first save) , as Steve Cishek was still on the sidelines recovering from the flu.  Dunn retire the first two batters, and allowed Bryce Harper his first hit of the game.  With Ryan Zimmerman at the plate and Adam LaRoche on deck, the picture was looking grim.  The left-handed Dunn walked Zimmerman, putting runners on first and second with the go-ahead run at the plate. with a 1-2 count, LaRoche watched the game end on a four-seam Dunn fastball right down the pipe.

With the win, the Marlins divide the series and keep pace with the 9-game separation from the best-in-the-National-League Nationals. Next up is a trip to Big Z’s old stomping (literally!) grounds on the north side of Chicago. The 36-52 Cubs will be a welcome respite from the tough schedule we’ve endured recently, but that doesn’t imply a cakewalk. Anibal Sanchez starts the series against Travis Woo, followed by Josh Johnson vs. Jeff Samardzija.  The series wraps up with Mark Buehrle facing lefthander Paul Maholm.  While the Cubs have been playing well lately, they’re due for a little regression, and the Marlins have shown improvement in their offense.

Prediction:  Marlins sweep the series. Ozzie and Big Z catch three days of boos from the crowd.  Ruggiano will continue to impress, and Morrison will continue to disappoint.

Prediction: The Nationals win 5-2. Big Z goes only 3 innings for the Marlins, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits. Detwiler, meanwhile goes 7 strong shutout innings for the Nationals.

 

I was at least half right. The Washington Nationals did win the game behind a very strong start from Ross Detwiler, 2 to 0.

Ross Detwiler has gotten off to a hot start in 2012, he only continued that against the Marlins. (Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

I was incorrect on Carlos Zambrano. Big Z did not struggle like I suspected he would Zambrano went 7 very solid innings for the Marlins. He struck out 6 hitters and did not walk a batter. The only blemish on Zambrano’s line was Rick Ankiel.

Source: FanGraphs

The Marlins best scoring chance happened in the second inning. Giancarlo Stanton led the inning off with a single. After a Gaby Sanchez line out, Austin Kearns lined a double down the third base line to set the Marlins up second and third with only one out. John Buck lifted a fly ball, but unfortunately for the Marlins, it was hit to Rick Ankiel, who has one of the strongest outfield arms in baseball. Donnie Murphy then struck out to end the inning.

Rick Ankiel led off the bottom of the third with a solo shot to center. It was the Nationals first hit of the game. Ankiel also had a hit in the fifth inning. His single off of Zambrano in the fifth was the second, and the last hit the Nats would get off of Big Z this evening.

This game was a pitchers dual that we would have expected for either game 2 or 3 of this series. Both pitchers brought their A games.

Detwiler pitched a gem of a game going six, with three hits, no earned runs, and seven strikeouts. With only 79 pitches, Detwiler was lifted after 6 innings. Have to wonder if he was on some kind of a pitch count?

Zambrano finished the game going seven innings, with two hits, one earned run, and six strikeouts. I assume he would have pitched the eight inning, but the Marlins needed to get some kind of offense going, so the Marlins sent Chris Coghlan instead.

Zambrano had his best start of the season, and as a Marlin Friday night against the Nationals. (Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE)

After Logan Morrison beat out an infield single, Chris Coghlan sent a deep shot to the warning track. Rick Ankiel was able to get underneath it at the wall and retire Coghlan. Jose Reyes grounded out, but Morrison was able to advance to second.

Next batter had the at bat of the game. Emilio Bonifacio fouled off 7 straight pitches and faced 15 total pitches before he drew a walk. The Marlins now had their hottest batter, and the guys they need at the plate. Tonight however, was not going to be a heroic one for Hanley Ramirez. He swung at a high fastball to end the threat. The Marlins were trailing 1-0 going into the bottom of the eight.

Steve Cishek handled the eight inning for the Marlins. Cishek struck out Xavier Nady, then Ankiel came up again, and got his third hit of the game. On the hit, Ankiel rounded second and dared Stanton to throw him out. Stanton threw a perfect ball to second, but Jose Reyes missed the tag and Ankiel had himself a double. The next batter, Jesus Flores hit a grounder back to Cishek and Cishek had Ankiel hung between second and third. Cishek, however, decided to go to first base and retired Flores.

This poor decision would come back to haunt the Marlins. After intentionally walking former Marlin, Chad Tracy, Ian Desmond singled to score Ankiel, extending the Nats lead over the Fish to 2 to 0.

This was the first run Cishek had allowed in his 9 appearances (8.1 innings) this season.

In the ninth, Henry Rodriguez came into attempt to close the game for the Nationals. Rodriguez got Stanton to fly out to shallow center. Rodriguez walked Sanchez and allowed him to advance to second on a wild pitch. Greg Dobbs flew out and John Buck drew a walk. With the game tying run on second, Chris Coghlan grounded into a fielders choice to end the game.

The Nationals win and move to 11-4 and the Marlins fell to 7-7. Both teams will be right back at it on Saturday afternoon. Remember, this game will start at 1:05 PM EST. The game will feature two of the better pitchers in baseball, Anibal Sanchez and Stephen Strasburg.

Prediction: Anibal Sanchez throws a gem, going eight shutout innings and allowing only one hit. Strasburg allows three runs over seven innings for the Nationals. Marlins win the game 3-0.

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The Nationals have expressed interest in Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla, a baseball source confirmed on Monday to MLB.com. FOXsports.com was the first to report that Uggla was on Washington’s radar.

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If the Marlins trade Uggla, they want pitching and a catcher in return. In the past, teams have inquired about right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, but Washington seems unwilling to part with the right-hander. By 2012, Zimmermann and right-hander Stephen Strasburg are expected to be on the front end of Washington’s rotation. Strasburg is recovering from elbow reconstruction and is expected to miss most of the 2011 season.

The Nationals have catching depth which includes Ivan Rodriguez, Wilson Ramos, Jesus Flores and Derek Norris. Manager Jim Riggleman said at the end of the 2010 season that Rodriguez and Ramos would platoon behind the plate to start next season, while Ramos would take over the No. 1 spot after the All-Star break.

The Nationals have some interest in us, but should we be interested in the Nationals as a trading partner? After all, trading within your own division is a stereotypical no-no, and I’m sure it would break the hearts of many fans to see Uggla 18 times a year playing against us. It would certainly be unpleasant for me, as I’m one of the biggest Uggla fans in the business.

But my allegiance is with this organization and its laundry before it is with any players, I suppose, so I have to think of what is best for the team. And honestly, the Nationals have some interesting pieces that we should keep an eye on. While their package may not be ideal, the Marlins have to be intrigued by the depth of their catching corps, which includes one old favorite name, one top prospect we won’t get our hands on, and two guys in between who could become Marlins as part of a Dan Uggla trade. Let’s take a look at these names.

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