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Miami Marlins Morning Catch: Much needed off day for winless Marlins

By Travis Honeycutt

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Three days into the 2015 MLB season and there are just two teams with perfect 0-3 records: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Miami Marlins.

The Fish struggled mightily to score runs in the first series against the Atlanta Braves, a series in which they saw final scores of 2-1, 12-2 and 2-0. The good news is that with the exception of the Mat Latos anomaly on Tuesday night, the pitching staff has been every bit as good as advertised. The issue, though, is that the “bolstered” lineup has appeared to be anything but.

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The Marlins mustered eight hits on Opening Day, five hits in game two and just six hits last night. Of the team’s 19 hits this season, just two went for extra bases: Henderson Alvarez still owns the team’s only double on the year, and Donovan Solano smacked the club’s lone triple on Tuesday.

That’s not going to get it done.

But the wonderful thing about baseball is that after a tough game, teams usually get a shot at redemption the next day. That will have to wait though, as Thursday marks the Marlins’ first off day of the season. It’s not a travel day, just a scheduled day of rest before the Tampa Bay Rays come to town for a three-game set beginning Friday. And when you glance at some of the numbers, it’s evident that Miami’ hitters are likely grateful for the day off:

Giancarlo Stanton: .125 (1-for-12), 4 BB, 5 K, 12 PA

Adeiny Hechavarria: .000 (0-for-11), 1 BB, 1 K, .091 OBP

Michael Morse: .250 (3-for-12), 5 K, 10 LOB in series (team left 19 on base total)

Dee Gordon: .250 (3-for-12), 0 BB, .250 OBP and one of these:

http://cdn.streamable.com/video/79258930dcb211e49df09dd14ba6c491.webm

The Fish are still searching for their first home run of the season, and that could come against a largely dismantled Rays pitching staff this weekend. We’ll have a series preview for you tomorrow. Until then, here’s some Marlins news from around the web you might’ve missed while you were watching them lose over the past few days.

Marlins News from Around the Web:

Miami Marlins Recap: Shelby Miller Leads Braves to Sweep of Marlins

Michael Sonbeek, Marlin Maniac

The Miami Marlins haven’t started the season how they imagined they would. After an embarrassing first two games for the Fish, the Marlins and Braves were right back at it Wednesday at Marlins Park. The Marlins sent out Tom Koehler and the Braves sent out Shelby Miller who was making his debut.

The game was a pitchers duel throughout the first 6 innings until A.J. Pierzynki belted a two run blast off of Koehler in the 7th inning.

Giancarlo Stanton went 0-3 with a walk and struck out 3 times. He flashed the leather though, making an outstanding diving catch which resulted in a double play at first base. Click here for full article.

Brad Hand solid in Miami Marlins loss

Daniel Smith, Fish Stripes

The Mat Latos that pitched at Marlins Park last night was not the Mat Latos that the front office envisioned they had obtained in the off-season. The veteran had a bad outing to say the least. He surrendered seven runs in only two-thirds of an inning, and the Marlins never recovered. The game ended with a score of 12-2, but the bullpen was fairly impressive, on the whole. Brad Hand, Sam Dyson and Bryan Morris combined for one earned run over seven and one third innings before Steve Cishek faltered in the ninth.

As noted a couple of months ago, a strong starting rotation is critical if the Marlins want to make a postseason run. When the starters get into trouble early in games, it makes it very difficult for the team to win. These games, like on Tuesday, will happen, but its about minimizing the damage and giving the offense the best chance of winning the game. This is exactly what Brad Hand did against the Braves. The left-handed long-reliever walked the first batter he faced, but then settled in and pitched four-plus innings of shutout baseball. Click here for full article.

Ichiro Picks Up First Hit of Season

The Wall Street Journal

Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki picked up his first hit of the season during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park on Wednesday.

The bunt, off Braves pitcher Luis Avilan, was Suzuki’s first hit as a Marlin. The 41-year-old joined the team this season. He has appeared in all three games this year as a pinch hitter.

Ichiro now has 2,845 career hits in Major League Baseball, putting him one ahead of former Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Ichiro ranks 46th on MLB’s all-time career hits list. Click here for full article.

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