March 28, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Justin Nicolino (34) delivers to the St. Louis Cardinals during the spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Are you a fan of baseball? Well, if you’re reading this right now chances are you enjoy watching the sport. The real question is, are you a fan of games that have little to no offense? If you answered yes to that question, you probably won’t put yesterday’s Marlins/Cardinals games on your list of great baseball games.

As the regular season continues to slowly approach us, the Miami Marlins took on the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday, as the two teams continue to make their last second roster decisions. The game, which took place at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter Florida, featured two young pitching talents who had one last chance to show their worth a spot on the opening day roster.

For the Marlins, Justin Nicolino took his spot on the mound and was quite impressive. Nicolino, the young 21 year old lefty, who made his MLB debut, pitched five innings, allowing a lone run in the first inning, while allowing six hits and striking out six. Unfortunately, Nicolino was unable to pull off a victory in his first appearance as a major leaguer. What he was able to pull off was some very high praise from first year Marlin head coach, Mike Redmond. “One of the things I loved about managing him was that he was such a great competitor.” Redmond said. “For a young kid to come up here and show that much poise and confidence facing such a big league lineup — a legitimate big league lineup — that was good to see. … Huge test and he passed for sure.”

Even though he was unable to earn a victory yesterday, the future is still very bright for Justin. He is currently listed as the fourth best prospect in the Marlins organization. After being drafted in the second round of the First Year Player Draft in 2010 by the Toronto Blue Jays, Nicolino was traded to the Marlins back in the controversial November trade between the Marlins and the Blue Jays.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, there wasn’t much to be too excited about. The offense was shut-out and only managed to get three hits.

Much like the Marlins, the Cardinals sent out a young pitcher who also impressed. During the course of Spring Training, Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn has been very impressive. Yesterday was no different, as Lynn was able to pitch six shut-out innings, while allowing just two hits and recording five strikeouts. Even after Lynn the Cardinals pitching staff was quite impressive. Although he only pitched one inning, former Marlin, Edward Mujica, had a fantastic performance. In his only inning, Mujica was able to strike out two of the batters.

Matt Holliday shined for the Cardinals, getting on base both times he stepped up to the plate, including a RBI single in the first inning.

This game was not exactly what you would call a thriller. For the Marlins, Spring Ball is over and the real thing will now come to a start on Monday. The Marlins will head to Washington to take on the defending division champion Nationals. The Marlins will send ace Ricky Nolasco to the mound to face the young phenom Stephen Strasburg at 1:05. Make sure you either set your DVR or watch the game. Although it might not be physically felt by the players, this Marlins team is going to need all the support they can get.

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Turner Improves

Mar 9, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jacob Turner (33) throws in the second inning during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Jacob Turner made his second start of the spring Saturday, his second time facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals. His first start did not go to well, as he gave up six runs in one-third of an inning. On Saturday, Turner looked a lot better for the Marlins.

This time, Turner was stretched out for three innings and was able to shut the Cardinals lineup down. Turner struck out two batters in the outing and allowed only one walk, which was an improvement over his three walks and no strikeouts in his first start. Turner only allowed two hits in this one as well.

His spring ERA currently sits at 16.20, but the Marlins are going to ignore that number as long as he pitches like he did Saturday.

The Marlins pitching staff performed very well in the loss. The Marlins struck out five batters and walked just two, minus reliever Chris Hatcher. Hatcher allowed four hit,  including a two-run double to Pete Kozma, which were the only runs of the game for the Cardinals side. Hatcher has not looked good this spring and his pitching career looks as bright right now as his previous catching career did.

Offense Struggles Again

The Marlins offense could only come up with five hits and struck out ten times against the Cardinals dominant pitching. Wainwright was responsible for six of those strikeouts, keeping the Marlins hitters off balance in his 4 2/3 innings. He seemed to be in mid-season form in this one.

The only player for the Marlins to do well in this one was second baseman, Donovan Solano. Solano was 2-for-3 with his first extra base hit of the season, a double off of Wainwright in the first inning. He currently owns a .542/.542/.591 line as of right now, easily one of the Marlins top hitters so far this spring.

Up next: The Marlins will face off  with the Atlanta  Braves at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. Wade LeBlanc, competing for the fifth-starter spot, gets the nod. The lefty has thrown five scoreless innings this spring for the Marlins, with six strikeouts and just one hit allowed. Atlanta will counter with Tim Hudson.

Here is a look at the Marlins lineup for the game:

#Marlins at ATL: Yelich LF, Figgins 2B, Downs 3B, Mahoney 1B, Ozuna RF, Coghlan LF, Green SS, Skipworth C, Gorkys CF, LeBlanc P

— Juan C. Rodriguez (@JCRMarlinsbeat) March 10, 2013

The Marlins have been playing very well as of late, as they are winners of seven of their last ten ballgames. If the Marlins can win tonight, they will be back at .500 for the first time since June 18th, when the Marlins fell to the Tampa Bay Rays to drop their record to 33-33.

In care you were wondering, last year, at this time, the Marlins were sitting at 40-48. This years Marlins team is just a little bit better.

July 6, 2012; St. Louis, MO. USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (27) poses with his National League All Star Game jersey before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Marlins won 3-2. (Image: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE)

Busch Stadium

Five-year Run PF*: 0.99
Five-year HR PF*: 0.92
Stadium Dimensions:
Left field line—330 ft.
Left-center field—372 ft.
Center field—402 ft.
Right-center field—375 ft.
Right field line—330 ft.

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

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The Marlins will have no easy task as they take on the St. Louis Cardinals, for their fifth meeting of the season. The Cardinals beat the Marlins on opening day and the opening of new Marlins Park. The Cardinals also won the first two games of their series last week, once again taking place in Marlins Park. The Marlins were able to win the last game of the series to avoid a sweep.

The Marlins ended an eight-game losing streak to St. Louis with a 5-3 victory June 27, since which, the Marlins have won six of eight, to close within two games of the .500 mark, right before All-Star break. For the team to finish above .500, the Marlins would need to do something that the franchise has not accomplished in 16 years, sweep the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Marlins’ last three-game sweep in St. Louis was Aug. 27-29, 1996.

The Marlins will be without their star right fielder on Friday night, Giancarlo Stanton, but he hopes to return to the lineup sometime this weekend.

Miami Marlins right fielder

Busch Stadium

Five-year Run PF*: 0.99
Five-year HR PF*: 0.92
Stadium Dimensions:
Left field line—330 ft.
Left-center field—372 ft.
Center field—402 ft.
Right-center field—375 ft.
Right field line—330 ft.

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

(more…)

The first two games of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals were a microcosm of the Marlins struggles in the month of June. Monday night, the Marlins blew a four-run lead in the ninth inning and ended up losing the game in the tenth inning, blowing an opportunity to win the game in the bottom half of the ninth. On Tuesday, the Carlos Zambrano got beat up in the first inning, allowing five unearned runs, and never got back into the ballgame, losing that game 5-2.

Wednesday night, the Marlins were finally able to fight back against the month of June and pull out a victory.

Heath Bell and catcher John Buck celebrate the Marlins big win over the Cards. (Image: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Source: FanGraphs

The game did not quite start the way the Marlins would have wanted it to start. Anibal Sanchez, starting for the Marlins, came into the game with an ERA/FIP of 8.09/5.43 for the month of June. In the first inning, it looked like it would be more of these same struggles that Anibal had suffered through this month.

After walking the second batter of the game, John Jay, Matt Holliday doubled to deep right to set-up a second and third situation with Carlos Beltran at the plate. Beltran was able to score Jay on a sacrifice fly, which was followed up by a run-scoring double for David Freese. Matt Carpenter then scorched a single to Giancarlo Stanton, who was able to gather the ball and easily throw out Freese at home plate for the final out of the inning. Stanton bailed out Anibal big time, and Anibal’s night would improve from there, as he was able to retire 9 straight hitters after the out at home.

After coming up with a big hit for the Cardinals in their win on Monday, Joe Kelly was on the mound for the Cardinals. For the most part, Kelly was able to control the Marlins hitters through the first four innings, scattering three base hits.

In the fifth inning, the Marlins offense made a comeback. After Omar Infante and Gaby Sanchez each walked to lead off the inning, John Buck was able to single up the middle and cut the lead in half. After an Anibal Sanchez sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third, Jose Reyes grounded out to tie the ballgame at two a piece.

The action was limited until the seventh inning, when Tony Cruz, who was starting for the Marlins killer this series, Yadier Molina, blasted the first pitch he saw from Anibal to start the inning out of the park to put the Cards back on top.

The Marlins would quickly respond with a John Buck one out homer in the bottom half of the seventh. Logan Morrison, who was brought into pinch hit, followed Buck with his own home run. The home run was ruled a home run, then the first base umpire ruled it as a double, after a look at instant replay, the call was overturned and LoMo had given the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

Miami Marlins left fielder Logan Morrison rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Marlins Park. (Image: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Steve Cishek came on in relief of Anibal Sanchez and gave the Marlins a quick, 1-2-3 inning. The Marlins were able to tack on a run on an Omar Infante double to stretch their lead to 5-3. Heath Bell was brought out to close the game.

After a lead off single by Carpenter, Bell was able to retire the following three hitters to close out the game, but that did not mean that the save did not come without any scares. Yadier Molina, pinch hitting for the pitcher, tabbed a ball back to Bell, who fired the ball to second base. Jose Reyes was late covering second base and the ball got by him, luckily for the Marlins, Infante was there and was able to scoop the ball up and throw Molina out. Bell then got Allen Craig to fly out to end the game.

The Marlins win 5-3, behind a strong start by Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez lasted seven innings, allowing seven hits, striking out four, and walking just two. It was his best start of the month of June and the first time he went seven innings since May 29th against the Washington Nationals.

The Marlins bounced back in a big way tonight and earned a very important win for the ball club.  Hopefully with this win, the Marlins can build some momentum and start a winning streak. The Marlins will next host the last team they beat in a series to start the month of June, the Philadelphia Phillies.