We are officially in the heart of the baseball season; teams like the Chicago White Sox in the American League and the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League find themselves out of the Wild Card race unless a miracle happens from the baseball gods. The Miami Marlins still have a slim chance if they grab it and take advantage of it.
The Marlins are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The loss prevented the Marlins from completing their first sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati in 14 years.
Tom Koehler was on the bump for the fish and he did not have one of his best days.
Koehler gave up three home runs.
But none of those pitches proved as costly as his throwing miscue in the fifth when the Reds stretched a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 advantage.
With runners at the corners and one out, Koehler fielded Joey Votto’s dribble hit. However he overshot his throw to Dee Gordon at second base for the force out, and the Reds capitalized, with Billy Hamilton scoring from third on the play and the Reds adding another run on Scooter Gennett’s RBI single.
“Just a bad throw. I did everything you’re not supposed to do. I rushed. I had a lot more time than I thought I had. And I threw it away. You’ve got to at least get one there, and if you get two there, it totally changes the momentum on our side. So for me, that was just completely unacceptable,” Koehler said.
Koehler’s record is now 1-5 while his ERA held steady at 7.92, higher than only Bartolo Colon’s 8.19 ERA among major-league starters who have thrown at least 40 innings.
Giancarlo Stanton was himself defensively though. Stanton threw out two runners with laser-accurate throws in the game. There have been echoes of his name in trade talks involving the New York Yankees with the trading deadline a week away. Stanton and core pieces are expected to stay while relievers could be dealt, according to team president David Samson. Stanton leads the National League with 30 home runs, two behind MLB leading and Home Run Derby winner Aaron Judge.
The Marlins did trade reliever David Phelps to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for four prospects; not much of a surprise according to my sources.
The Marlins looked abysmal offensively against Reds rookie Sal Romano, who was making only his fourth big-league start and brought a 7.50 ERA on the mound. The meat of the order for the Marlins — Stanton, Christian Yelich, Justin Bour and Derek Dietrich combined to go 1 for 11. Romano held the Marlins to three total hits over six innings. One of those was an A.J. Ellis solo homer.
At the All-Star break, Miami was a warm five games under .500 at 41-46, after a 10-8 win over the San Francisco Giants completed a sweep out West. Presently the fish are 3-6 since the break at 44-52 overall, moreover 4-6 in their last 10. Marlins take their talents to Texas next.