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Miami Marlins Morning Catch: The Fish play spoiler

By Charlie Clarke |

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

In baseball, teams who are out of the playoff race don’t see much excitement throughout the season. However, come September, they have a chance to become a factor in the playoff picture. The role is the spoiler and the job is to ruin opposing playoff chances.

While the postseason may be out of the question for Miami, the Marlins have stayed relevant. Playing spoiler, the Fish took two of three from Washington, who desperately needed to keep pace with the Mets this weekend.

Instead, New York swept Atlanta to increase their divisional lead to 9 1/2 games over the Nats in the NL East. Now, the Marlins will go up against the Mets, who seem to be a bit tougher to spoil.

But the ‘fun’ teams get out of ruin other clubs’ playoff hopes will diminish for the Marlins. Their best possibility to ‘spoil’ comes when they play Tampa Bay from September 29-October 1, who stand just six games back in the AL Wildcard. However, the Rays will likely be out of the race by then.

The spoiler plays an interesting role. And while the Marlins would much rather be in contention, it’s obviously a positive sign that Miami is winning games at the end of the season.

ICYMI: Jose Day a Success

From Around the Web:

Miami Marlins’ loss to Washington Nationals clinches seventh losing season in a row — Clark Spencer, Miami Herald

It’s official, to the surprise of no one.

The Marlins accomplished two things at once in falling 5-0 to the Washington Nationals on Sunday: they eliminated themselves mathematically from the National League East race and extended their run of consecutive losing seasons to seven.

Not that there was ever a doubt. The Marlins (61-82) have been out of it for months.

“It’s been a trying year for various reasons,” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. “We didn’t envision it this way when we were putting together the ball club in November and December.” (Read More Here)

Marlins shut down by Max Scherzer, denied sweep of Nationals — AP

MIAMI (AP) — Even after dropping the last game of the homestand, the Miami Marlins are making good on their goal to finish a disappointing season on a positive note.

The Marlins were shut down by Max Scherzer in a 5-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, but wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record.

“We won three series to go 6-3, and I’m very proud of the way these guys have played over these last three or four weeks,” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. “I liked the effort and the energy and playing smart, aggressive baseball.” (Read More Here)

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