Miami Marlins Morning Catch: Giancarlo Stanton Homers Not Enough, Marlins Fall to Braves

Good morning, Marlin Maniac readers and welcome to Morning Catch, the daily morning news and notes column from MarlinManiac.com. 

Three Dee Gordon hits and two Giancarlo Stanton home runs was a recipe before the season that the Miami Marlins anticipated would win them a lot of games. Unfortunately, both happened on Friday night, yet the Marlins still dropped their 5th game of the season to the Atlanta Braves.

David Phelps delivered another strong start for the Fish, going 6 strong innings. He allowed just 1 earned runs (3 runs) on 9 hits, struck out a season high 8, and didn’t walk a batter for the second time this season. His ERA 2.68 with his FIP even lower, at 2.58.

Phelps received early first inning support, as Dee Gordon led off the game with a single and scored on a Marcell Ozuna single to give the Marlins an early 1-0 advantage.

Much of the damage off Phelps came in the top of the second inning. A rare Adeiny Hechavarria error loaded the bases for the Atlanta Braves, before pitcher Julio Teheran, of all people, drove a single up the middle to give the Braves a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Giancarlo Stanton evened things at 2 a piece, as he went deep for the 9th time in the season. His shot was a no doubter off the bat, and would have been the most impressive home run on most nights. More on that later.

After Giancarlo tied it in the third, the Braves retook the lead the next half inning, after Todd Cunningham and Cameron Maybin hit back-to-back doubles to drive in the Braves third run.

It took under the 7th inning for the next scoring to take place, and this time it was Giancarlo at it again for the Miami Marlins, tying the Braves at 4 a piece with his second solo home run of the game. This one traveled 474 feet and was majestic.

He hit that into the camera well. That’s amazing.

Just like the last tie, this one was short-lived. The Marlins struggling bullpen continued to struggle on Friday night.

Mike Dunn came into pitch the 8th inning and got Freddie Freeman to pop out, before surrendering a double to Nick Markakis. For some odd reason, manager Mike Redmond decided to play the matchups and went away from his left hander, instead opting to give the ball to Bryan Morris, who has been pretty bad in 2015.

Andrelton Simmons and Todd Cunningham hit back-to-back singles to put the Braves up 4-3. A wild pitch by Morris to strike out Christian Bethancourt allowed the 5th Braves run to score.

Jim Johnson and Jason Grilli then came in and retired final 6 of 8 batters they faced. A J.T. Realmuto double in the 8th and a Giancarlo walk in the 9th were the only base runners the team managed to muster off the back-end of the Braves pen.

The two teams will be back at it today, with an early start. Mat Latos will go up against Alex Wood for an early 1:05 first pitch. The game will be the Miami Marlins’ first appearance on national television, as the game is being broadcast on Fox Sports 1.

More Marlins News Around the Web:

Dee Gordon’s start and incredible odds

Michael Jong, Fishstripes

The Miami Marlins’ offense has been helped out significantly thus far this season thanks to the smoking hot start by Dee Gordon. The Marlins’ acquired second baseman was brought in to provide speed at the top of the lineup, but instead he has simply ripped through National League pitching with a flurry of singles. Gordon picked up four hits in the series finale versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and now has 58 hits in just 147 plate appearances! His .426/.459/.529 (.425 wOBA) is patently absurd, but it is also the sixth-best in the National League. Along with fine defense at second thus far, this has propelled him to the league lead in Wins Above Replacement in the NL to start the year.

We have already addressed the obvious regression to the mean for Gordon; there is still a question as to where his true-talent batting line is even after this ridiculous start. However, there is no question that he has raised his expectations from before the season, and it is interesting to see just how improbable such a start was based on what we knew of Gordon before 2015. (Read More Here)

Cishek focuses on fixing mechanical flaw

Craig Davis, Sun-Sentinel

Coming home to the laughter of his 7-month-old daughter brought perspective to demoted Marlins closer Steve Cishek.

That was good for the psyche in confronting the biggest crisis of his career. What will have greater impact in determining whether the lanky sidearmer is able to reclaim the job he filled admirably for 2 1/2 seasons is more of a workmanlike process.

That began Thursday on the team’s off-day when Cishek worked on his throwing mechanics with bullpen coach Reid Cornelius at the Marlins’ training complex in Jupiter. (Read More Here)

Marlins hope Cosart can make next start

The Marlins are holding out hope that Jarred Cosart‘s hamstring won’t prevent him from making his scheduled start on Tuesday against the D-backs.

Cosart sustained a tight right hamstring in the sixth inning on Wednesday at Los Angeles, and had an MRI on Friday. The club is treating the ailment like a cramp, and more will be known after the right-hander throws off the mound on Saturday. (Read More Here)

Next: Papelbon on Marlins Radar?

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