Fun-lovin' Marlins off to hot start



Billy says "its a beautiful day for a PTP series, let's play 3!"

 The 2010 NL season got kicked off for the Marlins this weekend, rolling out 3 series in 2 days vs. Keith, Nick, and Mario. Lots of games played this Saturday, so here's a brief recap of mine...

Series 1:  Torto @ Keith
Game 1 - C.Billingsley @ A.Sanchez
Timely hits from Dexter Fowler and Jason Heyward sealed the deal in this one, and Thunder Thighs went a solid 7 in the season opener, and Sergio Romo had a shakey scoreless save.  Keith's Anibal Sanchez got himself ejected (7 games?) for plunking Dexter in the 4th..
Torto wins 5-2

Game 2 - R.A.Dickey @ J.Westbrook
Westbrook gave up 4 by the 6th, while Badenhop gave up another 5 in the 9th, to clinch the win for Torto.  Robert Alan Dickey gave up only 1 over 8 IP, and both A-Gone and Heyward had 3 RBIs each.
Torto wins 9-2

Game 3 - W.Rodriguez @ R.Halladay
Wandy pitched a solid game, but Halladay did what he does, pitch complete game wins to get your team back on track.  Keith won on the strength of a 7th inning 2-run shot by Matt Holliday.
Keith wins 3-2

Series 2:  Nick @ Torto
Game 1 - T.Hansen @ J.Cueto
A wild one to start the Marlins home opener, with Nick scoring 9 over 8 innings, with HRs from Prince, Ethier, and Heisey.  My guys clawed their way back in, culminated in a 6-run 8th inning of Kyle McClellan thanks in large part to a Heyward RBI-single, a  base clearing Ryan Zimmerman double, and a Mike Stanton 2-run HR.  Romo came in and slammed the door to get the save. Get ready to run wild on Tommy Hansen everybody - 4 SBs for my squad in this one...
Torto wins 11-9

Game 2 - V.Padilla @ J.Garland
A tight game all the way, with the Marlins down 3-4 in the bottom of the 9th.  Then Luke 'not Jam' Gregerson had to face my battery of 5 (yes FIVE) clutch bats in a row, which led to Heyward driving in Fowler to tie the game a 4-4.  Nick brough in phenom Strausburg to settle in for a potentially long extra inning affair, but the window was cracked open in the 11th, when Starlin Castro misplayed a ground ball for an error letting Fowler on base.  A few batters later, Mike Stanton walked the game off with the RBI-hit.
Torto wins 5-4 in 11 innings

Game 3 - I.Kennedy @ C.Billingsley
Another tight, well-pitched game left us at a 2-2 draw after 9.  Nick brought in Wilton 'not Jam' Lopez for the bottom of the 10th to face the top of the order, and the clutch bats had their way again.  After giving up singles to Utley and Fowler, Heyward grounded out on the fielders choice, clearing the way for Ryan Zimmerman to walk the game off on an RBI-single.
Torto wins 3-2 in 10 innings

Series 3:  Torto @ Mario
Game 1 - R.A.Dickey @ Y.Gallardo
All Dickey in this one.  The knuckleballer baffled Mario's hitters in this one for the CG, 1-run outing. Adrian Gonzalez's 4-RBI day was more than enough to get the win.
Torto wins 8-1

Game 2 - W.Rodriguez @ J.Santana
Battle of the lefties in this one - and the Marlins stormed out to a 8-2 lead midway thru the 6th, partly due to a tough 3-run, 3-base error by Angel Pagan.  Mario stormed back though in the bottom of the 6th and 7th to make it 8-7.  Jason Heyward made sure that the win was in hand though, with a 2-run shot in the top of the ninth, disappointing the Philly fans for any chance at a comeback.
Torto wins 10-7

Game 3 - J.Cueto @ C.Zambrano
A thoroughly frustrated Mario yanked big Z after only 1 and 2/3rds, but the walks and a solo Mike Stanton HR had him worried.  While Zambrano proceeded to demolish the water cooler and empty bat racks, James Loney got Mar the lead on a 3-run shot off Cueto. Mar added 3 more thru 7, and it was enough to hold off the Marlins rally. Jason Motte made short work of my 5-6-7 hitters, striking out the side in a dominating save effort.
Mario wins 6-5

So far, so good. 7-2 thru 9 games, can't complain about that at all. Go Marlins Go!