SoulRat DTF1 ADMINISTRATOR Detroit Tiger
Number of posts : 9935 Location : I'm movin' to Florida... Favorite Current Tiger(s) : I like fish at the moment.... Reputation : 0 Registration date : 2007-10-04
| Subject: Holy crap! Sun May 11, 2008 4:48 pm | |
| And the Fishies just won their 7th in a row | |
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mrsrabelo Erie SeaWolf
Number of posts : 2284 Age : 32 Favorite Current Tiger(s) : Jeff Larish | Fish: Mike Rabelo | Rockie: Jason Grilli | Bullpen catcher: Scott Pickens Reputation : 0 Registration date : 2007-10-05
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SoulRat DTF1 ADMINISTRATOR Detroit Tiger
Number of posts : 9935 Location : I'm movin' to Florida... Favorite Current Tiger(s) : I like fish at the moment.... Reputation : 0 Registration date : 2007-10-04
| Subject: Re: Holy crap! Mon May 12, 2008 12:27 am | |
| :haha: me too! | |
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GoGetEmTigers DTF1 ADMINISTRATOR Detroit Tiger
Number of posts : 57424 Age : 64 Location : Eastern Ohio, near Wheeling WV Favorite Current Tiger(s) : JV, Hunter, Jackson, Porcello, Avila (really ALL of em!) Reputation : 20 Registration date : 2007-10-05
| Subject: Re: Holy crap! Mon May 12, 2008 2:49 am | |
| 05/11/2008 5:50 PM ET
Box >
Uggla's two dingers keep streak alive Slugger notches Nos. 10 and 11 as Florida wins seven straight By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
WASHINGTON -- All season long, the Marlins have ridden the left arm of Scott Olsen. So it was fitting on Sunday that the rest of the team picked up their most reliable pitcher on an off afternoon.
Dan Uggla had two home runs while Jeremy Hermida also went deep to rally the Marlins to a 5-4 win over the Nationals in front of 25,871 at Nationals Park.
The power surge was much-needed because Olsen labored through six innings, giving up four runs, including two homers.
Nationals first baseman Aaron Boone, a former Marlin, had a big game with three hits. Boone homered off Olsen in the second inning, ending up a double shy of a cycle.
For Olsen, it was a struggle to generate any velocity on his fastball, which topped out at 87 mph. He reached that speed on only a few occasions. The 24-year-old was coming off a career best outing of 8 2/3 innings and 121 pitches on May 6 against Milwaukee, which made Sunday a challenge to rebound.
"Obviously, we didn't feel great," Olsen said. "You could tell that by looking at the radar gun. We were able to get through it. It was a battle all day. Our offense, and I've said it before, is what's going to carry us. They did a good job."
Olsen didn't rule out that his last start played a role in him exiting after 59 pitches.
"I'd never thrown that long, or that many pitches before," he said. "Maybe there was a carryover effect. I thought I did a good job of pacing myself, and not overthrowing."
Manager Fredi Gonzalez pinch-hit for Olsen with the team trailing by two in the seventh inning.
"He battled for six innings," Gonzalez said. "I know it was six innings and 59 pitches, but he gave us everything he's got out there. He kept us in the ball game."
The Marlins completed a three-game sweep at Washington, and ran their winning streak to seven straight. In nine meetings with the Nationals, Florida has taken eight, including all six at Nationals Park.
Trailing by two in the eighth inning, Hermida tied it with a two-run shot off Luis Ayala. On Mother's Day, Hermida connected using the pink bat that was issued to draw attention to breast cancer awareness. It was a special day for Hermida, whose mother, Celeste, was at the game.
"I did use the pink bat," said Hermida, who last homered on April 11 at Houston. "I was going to give it a couple of at-bats to see if it would work."
Hermida isn't sure if he is allowed, but he will check to see if he can use the pink bat again on Monday, when the team opens a four-game set at Cincinnati.
Florida's seven-game streak is two behind the franchise mark of nine, which was last done Aug. 20-29, 2006.
"I'd been saying all game that [Hermida] was due for a homer," said Uggla, who broke the tie three batters later. "He'd had a little bit of a home run drought, but he came up huge for us today. Big homer. It tied up the game."
Uggla's homer off Ayala gave him his seventh career multi-home run game, and second of the season. He last did it on May 2 against San Diego.
May 2 actually has become a turning point of sorts for Florida. It was that day that Hanley Ramirez moved from leadoff to third in the order. Hermida went from third to second, and Uggla dropped from second to sixth, and now fifth.
At the time of the move, Florida was 15-13. The record has since ballooned to 23-14. Uggla has had seven homers in nine games.
Uggla's second shot of the afternoon, with two outs in the eighth inning, proved to be the game-winner.
Has dropping into a more conventional power spot been the reason for the increased home run totals?
"I don't attribute it to anything," said the Marlins second baseman, who now has a team-high 11 homers on the season. "I don't think where you hit in the lineup is going to justify or make you hit more home runs, or more doubles, or more anything. It's a matter of where the manager wants to put you in the lineup. The last two years, I hit a lot of homers in the two hole. It just so happens that I'm hitting a lot of homers other than the two hole this year."
For Uggla, it was a big series. On Saturday night, he connected on his first career grand slam. On the grand slam, something happened that may have carried over into Sunday.
When Uggla made contact with his grand slam, he flipped his bat and gazed at the wall in left field before going into his home run trot.
The first pitch Uggla saw from Shawn Hill on Sunday was a 91-mph fastball on his left hip. It may indeed have been a purpose pitch by the Nationals right-hander.
Uggla eventually scored Florida's first run, racing home on Wes Helms' sacrifice fly.
Was there a message with the pitch that hit him?
"Who knows? He was probably just trying to run one in there, and it ran a little bit too far," said Uggla, who noted there are players in the league who showboat much more than whatever he did. "It ended up turning into a run, so I wasn't complaining at all. He left one up and out over the plate, and I ended up getting him later on in the game. So you take one for one, I guess."
Both Uggla's homers came while using his regular bat. He stepped to the plate twice with the pink bat, but didn't feel comfortable. In the fourth inning, he lifted a fly ball to right field.
"I didn't feel real good with it when I hit that ball to right," Uggla said. "Nothing felt good about that swing. This was a big game, so I went back to what was feeling good."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. | |
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catbox_9 DTF1 ADMINISTRATOR Detroit Tiger
Number of posts : 22295 Age : 36 Location : Paso Robles, California Favorite Current Tiger(s) : Justin Verlander Reputation : 17 Registration date : 2007-10-05
| Subject: Re: Holy crap! Mon May 12, 2008 3:11 am | |
| Tigers had a streak of 7 in a row this year...7 the wrong way Nice job Fish, though | |
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