The Marlins are now 7-30 over the past 37 June games in the past two seasons. While the Marlins have struggled, the team still is positioned five games behind the division leading Washington Nationals. Now is not the time to panic if you are a Miami Marlins fans.

The first game of the Marlins-Red Sox series will be broadcasted on ESPN on Monday night. Yes, it seemed like a mistake to me as well and I still believe it might be one, but just do not say anything and we may actually get away with it!

As usual, to preview the series, I had a quick chat with a Fansided writer of the opposing teams site. Over the past few days, I had an opportunitiy to chat it up with Derek Stykalo, the editor of BoSox Injection. Derek and his staff do an excellent job on their site, if you ever get a chance, please do check them out.

Here is a look at our chat:

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I think the questions regarding run support for our rotation will begin to fade away after last night’s 9-1 win over the Cubs.  Last night, a pair of sculpture-spinners from Donnie Murphy and Hanley Ramirez gave the Marlins an ample cushion from which to watch Mark Buehrle work. With 99 pitches over eight innings, Buehrle threw five K’s with no walks and gave up one earned run.

April 18, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Mark Buehrle (56) connects for an RBI single during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

The Matt Garza-led Cubs had a rough night of it.  Garza only lasted five and one-third innings before being replaced by Lendy Castillo. To paraphrase Dean Wormer, “14 hits and nine runs is no way to get through a baseball game, son.”

The game got off to a slow start through the first two innings, until Murphy parked a fastball on a 2-1 count in the bottom of the third with John Buck sitting on first from a lead-off walk.

Cubs fans were able to hold on to hope when Buck walked again in the fourth to load the bases; this time, Murphy fanned for the last out of the inning, stranding three runners.

The good-for-us, bad-for-them news really got rolling in the fifth.  Hanley Ramirez pounded a two-run coffin nail into deep left-center field.

In the sixth, a Gaby Sanchez RBI double sent Matt Garza to the dressing room, and Lendy Castillo took over, promptly giving up two singles and another double before closing the inning.

Two base hits and a wild pitch finally put the Cubs on the board in the top of the seventh.  Rodrigo Lopez came in to pitch for the Cubs to start the bottom half of the inning, and Chris Coghlan came in as Logan Morrison’s knee saver when LoMo drew a walk. A sacrifice fly by Donnie Murphy put Cogs across the plate brought the score to 8-1 at the end of seven.

After a leadoff triple by Jose Reyes in the eighth, Chris Coghlan grounded into half of a double play that allowed Reyes to score and Cogs to reach first.

Ryan Webb took over from Buehrle in the Ninth, ending the game in eight pitches.

Defensively, the Marlins played a journeyman’s game, with two double plays and only one error, charged to Hanley Ramirez for mis-gloving a hot grounder up his forearm in the fifth, allowing Geovany Soto to reach first base.

Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen is back after serving his five-game suspension. (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Pregame, all the media attention was on Ozzie Guillen. The media surrounded him to see what the outspoken manager would have to say. Ozzie passed his first test. He did not say anything regretful and now we can start to move on.

Source: FanGraphs

The game itself was a very interesting one. Josh Johnson and Ryan Dempster were mixed in a pitchers dual. What ever had been wrong for Johnson in his first two starts, seemed to be corrected on this night. Geoff Parkins will have more on that later today.

The first run of the game was scored in the fourth inning. After back-to-back singles to open the inning by Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro, the Cubs were set up with runners on the corners and nobody out. Castro then stole second base. This is however when Josh Johnson was able to settle down.

Johnson induced a ground ball out by Alfonso Soriano. That plated Barney and gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead. JJ was then able to strike Ian Stewart out on a nasty slider and got Steve Clevenger to ground out to end the inning. Johnson did a nice job of limiting the damage.

The Marlins finally got to Dempster in the fifth via two unearned runs. After a Gaby Sanchez double, Dempster airmailed a Josh Johnson grounder into the crowd. This allowed Gaby to score easily from second and Johnson took second base on the play. Emilio Bonifacio then came through with an RBI single to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead.

In the seventh, Johnson allowed an RBI single to Bryan LaHair to tie the game at two a piece. Johnson was allowed to finish the seventh inning. On the night, JJ went seven innings allowing seven hits, two runs, walking three, and striking out three. Unfortunately, the Marlins were unable to score in the bottom half of the seventh, which gave JJ a no-decision.

After delivering his best start of the 2012 season, JJ was unable to pick up a Win) (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Steve Cishek pitched the eight inning for the Marlins and he was effective once again. After striking out Reed Johnson, Cishek hit David DeJesus. Cishek was able to bounce back and induce the Marlins fourth double play of the game to get out of the inning.

This set up a heroic inning for the Marlins third baseman, Hanley Ramirez. After Jose Reyes reached on a Barney error and Emilio Bonifacio walked for the second time in the game, the stage was set for Ramirez. Hanley hit a laser shot to deep left and just missed hitting the home run structure. The “Thing” went off anyways as Hanley had belted a three-run homer to give the Marlins a 5-2 lead.

It was the second straight game where Ramirez had delivered the game winning hit for the Marlins. Only this time, it was not a walk-off hit. The Marlins had to send their struggling closer to the mound once more.

And Heath Bell came through for the Marlins. On just eight pitches (seven for strikes), Bell was able to get Starlin Castro to fly out, strike out Alfonso Soriano, and get Ian Stewart to fly out.

The Marlins have now won two straight games and are looking to win the series against the Cubs tonight. Mark Buehrle will take on Matt Garza.

Prediction: The Cubs win the ball game 4-1. Buehrle will continue to be left without any run support, as Matt Garza will hurl a gem for the Cubs.

Miami Marlins fans show their support for their manager, Ozzie Guillen. (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

The Marlins will welcome the Chicago Cubs to Miami to visit Marlins Park for the first time.  This will be the first time that the two squads face off since completing a major trade in the off-season. The Cubs sent oft-troubled right handed pitcher Carlos Zambrano to the Marlins for first round bust Chris Volstad. Neither pitcher is expected to make an appearance in a game this series.

Chicago Cubs (3-7) @ Miami Marlins (4-6), April 17-19, Games 11-13

NL East Standings

Stadium: Marlins Park

Source: thefightinfish.com

Five-year Run PF*: N/A
Five-year HR PF*: N/A
Stadium Dimensions:
Left field line—340 ft.
Left-center field—384 ft.
Center field—416 ft.
Right-center field—392 ft.
Right field line—335 ft.

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

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The Chicago Cubs have had a nice off-season, although it has been relatively quiet. They are under new leadership this off-season. The Cubs have certainly improved their roster, but that will not necessarily show in the win/loss column in the 2012 season. Cubs fans should be excited about the direction that the Cubs are headed in.

Today I am doing an off-season outlook with Jordan Campbell. Jordan is one of the best writers that FanSided has to offer. Over at Cubbies Crib, Jordan is the Senior Editor, and has always put a lot of great posts out there. Jordan answered some questions that I had on the Cubs, Theo Epstein, Anthony Rizzo, and Matt Garza‘s future.

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