Souza's Grab Preserves Nats No-No

((HT: MLB.com/MASN))

Steven Souza was put into left field for defensive purposes sunday afternoon...

Now, all of us know why...


Jordan Zimmerman went the distance for the first no-hitter in Nationals history. The opposing pitcher in the 1-0 win was Henderson Alvarez for the Marlins. If that name is familiar to you, it's because he had a no-hitter on the last day of the 2013 regular season.

The Nats won their 96th game of the season 30 games over .500 as they get ready for the post-season...

Makes you wonder who will get the no-hitter going against Zimmerman on the last day of the 2015 season...

Just sayin'...

DEVELOPING: Marlins' Stanton Hit By Fastball In The Face

((HT: MLB.com))

And it went downhill from there...

Here's what started it all...


Then, pinch-hitter Reed Johnson came up to complete the at-bat and he got hit in the hand with the next pitch.

Benches clear and we had ejections.
((HT: Ryan Berenz))


In the 6th, Marlins reliever Anthony DeSclafani was ejected after hitting the Brewers' Carlos Gomez.

Then, we had more ejections.

The update from the Marlins:

Giancarlo suffered a laceration on the left side of his face. He is having x-rays and a CT scan performed at a local hospital.

Marlins' Jennings Hit In Head With Line Drive

((HT: MLB.com))

The larger story out of the Marlins-Pirates game this evening is the condition of Marlins pitcher Dan Jennings after he took a line drive to the head from an at-bat with Jordy Mercer

Here's the play


The Pirates won the game 7-2 and Marlins Manager Mike Redmond said Jennings had his eyes open, was conscious, and was responding to questions as he was taken to a local hospital.

Mike Redmond Throws A Nutty, Play-By-Play Agrees

((HT: MLB.com))

The land of instant replay has been a bit of a minefield this season...

But when things go wrong and they're not corrected, managers have an opportunity to express themselves appropriately
Like Marlins manager Mike Redmond did last night.

Awful Announcing led us to the play-by-play call of Rich Walz and Tommy Hutton- the latter of whom went nuts


Redmond got the chance to talk about his undressing last night for a really fun presser after the game...

Miami Marlins Dancing Kid Round Two

((HT: Miami Marlins Vine))

We showed you Round One, and now, there's a sequel...


Did you keep you dinner in without a spit take...???

Crazy Kid: Dancing Marlins Fan Becomes Internet Rage

((ht: mlb.com))

Um...okay. Yeah, sure, it's great to be a kid. To not have a care in the world and to be genuinely be excited when the roving TV Camera finds you between innings at a Major League Baseball game.

Check out this kid at a Florida Marlins game Tuesday night.

To say he's excited...well, that wouldn't really do justice to the term "excited"....

And now, he's quite the rage on these here Interwebs...

Behold---

Giancarlo Stanton: Two Words, Two Homers

((HT: MLB.com))

At one point last night, the Miami Marlins had three hits... all three were solo home runs...

Two were absolute bombs by Giancarlo Stanton..


Milwaukee was in complete control of the game- winning in Miami 9-5, but the HQ can't wait for arbitration and free agency for some of their kids...

Chad Butera Hits 94 On The Gun

((HT: MLB.com))

Last night, the Marlins were rolling on the Dodgers and with the game way out of hand the home team decided to put in catcher Chad Butera to pitch the ninth.

He has done it before for the Twins, so it wasn't all that unfamiliar.

The only thing that could make this better was Vin Scully calling it...

Oh, wait...

Fernandez Fakes Out The Braves On Way To Win

((HT:MLB.com))

The HQ doesn't quite know what it is about Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez and the Atlanta Braves...

He has their number- on the mound, at the plate, and now in the field as he cruised to a 9-0 win last night.

He bluffed the day lights out of Tyler Pastornicky and kept a run from scoring early on...


In two weeks, Fernandez has thrown 17 scoreless innings against the Braves. His scoreless innings streak at home is now at 21 and two-thirds innings and he is now 8-0 in his last nine home starts with an ERA UNDER 0.50

All the Braves have to now is wait for free agency and they'll pick him up...
Or the Yankees will...

Giancarlo Stanton and the Walkoff Grand Slam

If it weren't for the exploits of one Giancarlo Stanton, we aren't sure anyone would pay attention to the Miami Marlins.

But Mr. Stanton, well, he provides an awful lot of highlights and few are better than what he did Friday night.

After a reviewed play loaded the bases for the Marlins in a 4-4 game with the Seattle Mariners, Stanton strode to the plate with nobody out.

He proceeded to hammer a pitch from Yoervis Medina over the left centerfield wall, and yes, it was a game winning grand-slam walk off. 

Marlins win 8-4 and the celebration went on deep into the night.

Why The Marlins Are The Marlins

((HT: MLB.com))

And they will always be the Marlins...
Just watch...


Okay... let's analyze for a second...

First, the decision was to intentionally walk Anthony Rendon to face Jayson Werth...
Rendon was walked to load the bases for a veteran power hitter...

Carlos Marmol thought he could get a 94-miles per hour fastball past Werth...
Not 98 or 99, but 94...
Over the fat part of the plate...

The Marlins deserved their fate from the decisions made in the dugout...

And they deserved the utter comtempt of Werth's bat flip...
Watch it again...


Werth's bat mowed the grass with his bat's disdain...

A disdain for all the decisions made leading up to the 0-1 pitch that ended the Marlins hopes on the road last night...

As it should have been...

Giancarlo Stanton Hit The Ball A Long Way

((HT: MLB))

It is now the longest home run in Marlins Park history at 474-feet...


See...???

Told you it was hit a long way...

Ouch! Marlins Giancarlo Stanton Seriously Injures a Baseball

((ht: mlb.com))

Yeah, Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins can hit baseball's a long, long way.

Check out this long (est. 525 ft) home run Monday afternoon in a Spring Training game with the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Actually, just listen to the sound of the bat hitting the ball...

Henderson Alvarez Throws No-Hitter and Wins on Wild Pitch

This is crazy, but it really happened.

Henderson Alvarez of the Miami Marlins made a bit of no-hit history this Sunday afternoon. The 23-year old Marlins pitcher not only threw a complete game one-walk, no-hit shutout, he had to wait until the bottom of the 9th inning to get the win.

The Marlins beat a Detroit Tigers lineup filled with back-ups 1-0.

That winning run scored ironically on a wild pitch by Detroit reliever Luke Putkonen. Giancarlo Stanton scored from third base while Greg Dobbs was at bat.

According to reports, not only was it the first no-hitter to end on a wild pitch, it was also the first walk-off no-hit win since 1952.

The win ended an otherwise dismal season for the Marlins who end with a 62-100 record. But with Alvarez and a host of other young pitchers including probable rookie of the year Jose Fernandez, the future for the Marlins may foretell of better days to come.

Video of the final pitch and end of the game:

Giancarlo Stanton Just Crushed It...

((HT: FS Florida/MLB))

There are times when you run out of adjectives when something like what happens below happens...

Time to play the "Match Game..."

Giancarlo Stanton hit this pitch from Ethan Martin (blank)...


Okay... your turn...

Try and come up with a description...

"Effing hard..." might be getting close...

Chris Johnson Doesn't Appreciate Those Who Watch Homeruns

((HT: MLB/FSFlorida))

This was one of those incidents that had a lot of things wrong with it...

And, mostly, it was because of how entirely young the Miami Marlins are...

It all starts with a home run... by a pitcher...

Here's what went down...


So, did Fernandez cause the furor by staring...? Yes...
Was it immature...? Yes...
Was McCann in the right by trying to explain etiquette to Fernandez...? Yes...

Do young kids in a group lend itself to immaturity...? And, when confronted by veterans does something like this escalate...? Yes.

Fernandez wasn't a fan of what Evan Gattis did when he homered earlier, so he may have retaliated. But Fernandez said McCann told him "You can't do that Buddy. He talked to me like a friend, a father."

Which may have put an end to the whole thing- until the next time Fernandez pitches against the Braves...

Goldberg Finishes First Pitch Appropriately

((HT: MLB.com))

Okay, so what else would you expect at "Legends of Wrestling" night in Miami in front of close friends and family at the Marlins shiny boondoggle...???

Bill Goldberg throws out the first pitch and finishes it thusly...


Wouldn't have it any other way...

The Braves Waffle House Streak: Am I The Jinx?

We finally made it to a Braves game Saturday night.

Granted, it may...or may not have been the best time to go. The Braves had been on a roll, 14 straight wins, good hitting, good pitching and a little bit of good luck.

The Braves fan base: They've been coming out of their closets, jumping back on the band wagon and just generally ecstatic the hometown team is 14-plus games ahead in their division. They were looking for any change that might mean the streak would end.

((Disclaimer--Yes, for those of you who live in the South, the Braves are not just "Atlanta's" team. You can go to Birmingham, Jacksonville, Raleigh and most any small southern city, most everyone is a Braves fans))

Back to our story...

I'd been nervous all week. No, I'm not superstitious per se--but I was quite concerned. Concerned the Braves were going to be on a roll come Saturday night and secretly hoped they lost before them. I was worried the night that the Lovely Bride and I showed up, the streak would end.

Baseball fans as a whole are a superstitious lot. If their team wins after they turn their ballcaps backwards, they'll continue doing it. If they are watching at home and sitting on the couch, they won't move if their team is winning.

Oh, wait, that's me.

The latest superstition/craze/lucky change for the Braves--The new Waffle House stand at Turner Field. The Braves fortunes seem to have miraculously changed when the southern Interstate highway exit icon made it's first appearance near section 128 at the Ted on July 26th.

The Braves hadn't lost since.

If you aren't familiar with Waffle House, think of it this way. They are a smaller, faster, less clean version of the stereotypical northern diner.

And no, I am not kidding about finding a Waffle House. Drive on any Interstate in the Southern U.S, you'll find the sign seen in the picture to the left on at least 75% of the exits. And most any southerner will know exactly what you are talking about if you order hash browns and say "make mine-Scattered, smothered, covered and chunked (my favorite)".

The first indication that Saturday was not going to be the Braves night, if you bought into the Waffle House theory at least, was the crowd. There were a good 35-40,000 at the game, it was a typical hot and humid August night.

But the Waffle House was nearly empty. The above photo shows the amount of people there less than an hour before 1st pitch.

The second sign was a little more obvious.

The rain.

Sure, it's rained a lot in Atlanta this year. Heck, we've about hit the yearly average rain total, with 4 months left in the year.

The delay was about an hour and after a first inning that featured one hit by each team and an amazing, diving catch by the Braves Jason Heyward, whatever hadn't gone out of whack for the day--did.

The game was an old-fashioned nail-biter. Braves rookie Alex Wood was good. Six innings of shutout baseball, he only gave up 3 hits.

But Marlins pitcher Nate Eovaldi was better.

If you don't know who Eovaldi is, you aren't alone. But he was peppering the plate with 95-98 mph fastballs and nobody could touch them.

Nobody.

All the while I sat there in the right field corner with the Lovely Bride and was nervous. Sure, I enjoyed the game. And yeah, I really enjoyed the Holeman and Finch burger that we had before the game.

((Sidebar--If you've never had an H&F Burger, I can't recommend them enough. The pub that makes these only sells 20 of them a night at the pub--after 10p.m only, the ones they make at the stadium though are damn good))

Anyway, as the game went on, all I could think about was the Braves losing. And yeah, sure, it was a largely meaningless August game featuring the best and worst teams in the NL East.

But it wasn't that.

I didn't want to be called the Jinx. I didn't want to be the new variable that caused the Braves to lose.

Sure, I know if you applied that rule, than roughly 30,000 people could no longer attend games. But that wasn't going to affect the grief I was destined to catch.

And so it went to the 9th inning. The game was a 0-0 tie.

That's when it happened.

Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechevarria hit the first pitch he saw from Braves reliever Jordan Walden all the way to the centerfield wall. Suddenly, he's standing on 3rd with nobody out.

A couple pitches later, Walden uncorked a pitch that landed against the wall behind the catcher. Hechevarria scored and it was 1-0 Miami.

By then I knew.

The first two Braves hitters in the bottom of the 9th were soft outs. And then catcher Evan Gattis (el iso blanco) poked a single to left field.

There still was a chance.

Until the next batter walked up to the plate. That batter, Paul Janish, a great fielder who can't hit, struck out looking.

And just like that it was over.

The streak ended. The Braves lost and my phone lit up like a Christmas tree.

--sigh--

But I am not deterred. I will not be The Jinx. I will not be a guaranteed Braves loss.

In fact, we'll find out if the theory holds just next week. That's because we have tickets to next Saturday's game against Washington.

Chad Qualls Perfects Fist Pump Somersault

((HT: MLB/SNY))

It's one of those rare highlights that turned into something else entirely...

What would you call this action after a strike out...???


A fist pump-trip-blown tire-somersault should just about cover it...

Marlins Hitting Coach Tino Martinez Accused of Abusing Players (UPDATED)

((ht: miamiherald.com))

UPDATED--Tino Martinez has resigned his job as hitting coach for the Miami Marlins (from @clarkspencer--Miami Herald reporter)

Interesting.

According to a published report in Sunday's Miami Herald, several Miami Marlins players have accused the teams hitting coach, Tino Martinez of abusive behavior.

And at least one of those players, recently demoted 2nd baseman Derek Dietrich says Martinez grabbed him by the neck.

The report seems to be one of many coming to the surface focusing on Martinez and his sometimes bizarre behavior.

According to the report, the Dietrich incident is the most violent, other players have supposedly been verbally attacked with the intent to intimidate.

Read the entire Herald report, and it's pretty detailed, RIGHT HERE

We should also add, Martinez and team Manager Mike Redmond got into a quite public argument. And according to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Martinez has been doing this since spring training.

Read the Sun-Sentinel's story RIGHT HERE

We certainly don't believe the Marlins condone intimidation or abuse but something here is quite amiss. The report goes on to mention the MLBPA and others have been notified about pretty much everything, yet nothing has happened.

As a general rule, baseball is not known for its screaming, intimidating coaches like, say football. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it is rare. It's interesting that in this case the report centers around the Marlins, one of the leagues worst teams.

It's quite possible the team will take action on this soon, the report states team Manager Mike Redmond has been trying to get to the bottom of the allegations. However, the Sun-Sentinel reports that Martinez may not necessarily want to quit on his own and forfeit the hefty contract he was paid to come coach. And, also unsurprisingly, Loria doesn't want to fire him and be on the hook for the remainder of said contract.

---Sigh---