Miami Marlins riding a five game winning streak… on Sundays

The Miami Marlins haven’t given fans much to get excited about. However, amid their heavily publicized woes, the Fish are in the midst of a winning streak.

These days, good news is slim pickens for Miami Marlins fans. The Fish are 3-13 in the month of May, and are showing few signs of improvement. With all of the negativity that is swirling around the Marlins franchise right now, fans need a little something to get them through the day.

Hows this: the Miami Marlins have been absolutely dominant on the sabbath. After dropping their first Sunday matinee of the season, the Marlins have gone a perfect 5-0.

It might seem like a stretch, but these days, Fish fans will take any shred of good news that they can get. Even while the team has struggled, they’ve inexplicably managed to put their best foot forward on Sunday afternoon games.

The Fish wish it was Sunday, everyday

The Marlins aren’t only winning on Sunday, they’re dominating. They’ve beaten their opponents by a total 31-9 during their five game winning streak. For whatever reason, they’re receiving their best pitching performances, from both the starting rotation and the bullpen.

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An interesting wrinkle during this run, is that both Jose Urena‘s first start, as well as Justin Nicolino‘s first start both took place on Sunday. Urena pitched six shutout innings on only 63 pitches in his first start. Nicolino posted similar numbers, allowing only one earned run over six innings.

But it isn’t a matter of the Marlins starters simply performing well on Sundays. Even when the starting pitching is sub-par, the Fish are finding ways to put the bat on the ball and score runs. In Tom Koehler‘s start against the Pirates on April 31st, he was pulled after four innings. Koehler’s three allowed runs in the first inning were the only times the Pirates scored all game; the Marlins won 10-3.

Coincidence? Something to build on?

Can it be both? The two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. The Miami Marlins aren’t drinking from some kind of special elixir on Sundays that they don’t have access to every other day of the week. If I remember the movie correctly, “Michael’s Secret Stuff” was really just a bottle of water that Bugs Bunny scribbled over so that the Looney Tunes would believe in themselves.

At the risk of sounding too inspirational, that’s what the Fish appear to be lacking most: confidence in themselves and each other.

The team isn’t playing like they’re a group of the 25 best ballplayers in the world. At best, they look frustrated and annoyed by their poor play. At worst, they look listless and uninterested, seemingly resigned to their fate.

Of course, the Marlins players do care. Nobody thinks they’re out there trying to collect a paycheck and not win ball games. There needs to be a spark, a catalyst that can propel an ultimately talented team into action. We hoped it would be Tyler Moore‘s pinch hit homer, but that hasn’t been the case.

The Marlins have a game agains the Dodgers tonight, game one of a four game series. If they can pick up a win tonight with Edinson Volquez on the mound, it’ll be a big step forward. Every winning streak begins with one win.

Next: Miami Marlins: Starting pitching hasn’t been the issue lately

Maybe it’ll take another Sunday game to get the gravy train started for the Fish. Here’s to hope!