Category: Linescores of the Day

Sing it, “You make me feel like a natural cycle”. Texas Rangers Centerfielder Gary Matthews, Jr. hit for a natural cycle against the Detroit Tigers & Rookie Watch’s own Justin Verlander. Verlander’s fastball has lost at least five MPH and fatigue has also taken a toll on his location as he’s been wild in the zone. This is not to take anything away from Sarge’s kid, just stating a fact. GM2 got his a single, double, & triple, batting lefthanded off Verlander, then turned around to hit a homer batting righty against Mike Maroth, and then he walked. With Minnesota Twins outfielder ailing, Matthews is the best defensive centerfielder in the AL. Gary has really picked it up with the bat this year, batting .312, with 42 doubles, 6 triples, 17 homers, 8 steals, has driven in 74 as a leadoff man, while scoring 91 times. This is the same Gary Matthews, Jr. who has played for eight teams in his career; the San Diego Padres, the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Baltimore Orioles, the NY Mets, the Baltimore Orioles again, the San Diego Padres again, before FINALLY finding a home with the Texas Rangers. He was a member of this year’s AL All Star Team. The highest he hit in a year before this year was .275, and he’s already topped each of his single season offensive categories with the exception of stolen bases.

Gary Matthews, Jr. 4 for 4, 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, 3 runs

Bobby Abreu of the NY Yankees, nice pickup, eh?, drove in six runs in the 1st inning against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. His first at bat was a three run homer, moments later he followed that up with three run double, not a bad inning.

Bobby Abreu 2 for 2, 1 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 run (1st inning)

Cody Ross

Dan Uggla

An unlikely pair of Fish get the nod for Linescores of the Day. Cody Ross hit three home runs, one was a 440 foot bomb! Ross is 5’9″, 205 pounds, was a 4th round draft choice of the Detroit Tigers in 1999, this is his third team of 2006, he wouldn’t even be playing if “tout boy” Jeremy Hermida hadn’t gotten hurt. And yet here he is bashing the NY Mets, helping the Marlins as they charge toward the Wild Card, the Marlins have the lowest salary (by far) in the bigs, but this hasn’t stopped them from winning. Maybe this is why this team is winning, they are HUNGRY!

The other Fish is just as unlikely to be playing out of his mind as Ross, his name is – DAN UGGLA! Uggla is an 11th round draft choice selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, he was hoping to find a spot on the Marlin Major League Roster as a utility infielder after being selected by Florida in the Rule 5 Draft, but he’s found a job as the everyday secondbaseman on this overachieving ballclub. Dan made the All Star team, is batting .293, needs one run to reach the century mark, and has hit 24 home runs to tie the All Time Record for Home Runs by a Rookie Secondbaseman set by Joe Gordon in 1938.

These players, along with the rest of the Florida Marlins, are why I LOVE THE FISH!!!

Cody Ross 4 for 5, 3 HRs, 7 RBIs, 3 runs
Dan Uggla 5 for 5, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 runs, 1 RBI

Rookie Marlin lefty Scott Olsen was outdueling greybread southpaw Jamie Moyer 1-0, until Ryan Howard. Howard took Olsen yard with Shane Victorino aboard in the sixth to give the Phils a 2-1 lead. Then Ryan added a solo eighth inning blast to give Philadelphia an insurance run. The Phillies needed every run Howard provided them, as the Fish scored a meaningless 9th inning run, losing 3-2. Last year Ryan had limited success against lefthanders, not so this season. Both Florida & Philadelphia are still battling for the NL Wild Card into the playoffs.

Ryan Howard is on a pace to hit 62 home runs, which in my book would be a new single season home run record eclipsing Roger Maris’ 61 home run mark, set in 1961, by one. Whether or not HGH and/or steroids were illegal or banned at the time when MLB players set new homer marks is not important, neither is whether they were caught. They were cheaters and I choose not to acknowledge their accomplishments. What do you think?

Ryan Howard 3 for 4, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs

9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (Win)

As if the Marlins don’t have enough storylines this year, rookie Anibal Sanchez thought he’d add one more.

In his 14th game in the majors, Sanchez pitched a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks winning 2-0. It was the fourth in team history and the first in the majors since Randy Johnson’s perfect game in 2004.

The Marlins have been on a roller coaster ride this year going from 20 games back to wild card contention. The amazing thing to me is that throughout all this, they’ve done it with Dontrelle Willis having a sub-par year. It’s not that the D-train hasn”t done well… he has a decent 3.93 ERA. The lack of run support is responsible for his 9-11 record.

Despite all that, Joe Girardi’s young squad has exceeded expectations thanks in part to Girardi himself. Though you won’t hear Fish owner Jeffrey Loria admit to that.

That’s ok. If Girardi needs a home after this season, I know a certain Chicago baseball team that would love to have him.

Pujols: 3 for 4, 3 HR, 3 runs, 5 rbis
Howard: 4 for 4, 3 HR, 3 runs, 4 rbis

Call it the race for the NL MVP.

4 for 6, 2B, 0 runs, 0 rbis

What if you got 4 hits in a game and no one noticed?

Adam Dunn knows. Despite his 4 for 6 performance, he had no runs or rbis to show for his effort.

The Reds could have used a run or two more yesterday. The Dodgers eked out a victory 6-5.