Marlins clinch playoff spot, fully healthy for playoff run: Torto vs. Carlo x 6

Poached Marlin anyone? Billy relaxes in the hot tub after a successful regular season campaign.

Last Sunday, our beloved commissioner was gracious enough to meet up with me for a 6 game swing with Carlo's AWOL team.   We met up in the AM at one of the parks along the Root River Parkway, were mistaken for beer delivery guys by a neighboring wedding reception party, and finished up with a late lunch at the Bosch tavern up the road.  Good times - here's a quick synopis of each of the games.

Series 1: Carlo(Nick) @ Torto
Game 1: R.Nolasco vs. R.A.Dickey
Mr. Dickey continued his dominant soft tossing ways, going 7 and 2/3rds and giving up only 1.  Nolasco got beat by the longball, giving up a 2-run shot to league MVP-candidate, Ryan Zimmerman, and another on a deep drive by Josh Thole. 
Torto wins 5-1

Game 2: B.Arroyo vs. W.Rodriguez
The leg kick was working for Carlo's Arroyo - and he kept the Marlins off the board with 5 strong innings. Only a 3-run HR from Miguel Olivo in the 8th kept my squad from getting blanked out, despite getting Jason Heyward back in the lineup.
Carlo wins 7-3

Game 3: T.Lincecum vs. J.Cueto
Faced with matching up against one of the NLs best pitchers, Johnny Cueto uncharacteristically rose to the challenge, and pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, before fatigue gave way to the bullpen for the 9th.  Lincecum did what he does, and pitched 8 and 2/3rds of outstanding ball.  Tied 0-0 until literally the last out of the 9th, Heyward and Zimmerman singled, and A-Gone nullified the jam with his own clutch, and walked the game off with a game-winning single. 
***RECORD ALERT*** - rookie phenom Jason Heyward, broke the single season walk record in this game (37), eclipsing Barry Bonds mark of 36 set by Fish in the 2007 NL season
Torto wins 1-0

After cruising thru that series in record time, Nick and I decided to stay outside in the absolutely perfect weather for series 2, where we strangely enough, found that Carlo's normal home stadium (Colorado) could not be played in due to a major structural flaw discovered - i.e. we couldn't remember where Carlo played.  Luckily Keith's Padres were done and Petco was sitting empty, so we moved the games there.

Series 2: Torto @ Carlo(Nick)
Game 1: J.Garland vs. C.Kershaw
Garland gave a virtuoso performance on the mound, in support of his bid to be the 4th starter in the playoff rotation, and shut down Carlo's bats, giving up only 1 unearned run (on a Luis Castillo error) in a full 9 innings.  Tony Gwynn Jr, filling in for the injured Dexter Fowler, managed to provide lead-off extra-base power (2B & 3B) to set the table for the win in this game.
Torto wins 4-1

Game 2: C.Billingsley vs. R.Dempster
The bats woke up a bit in this one, led by league HR leader, Mike Stanton - who hit 2 jacks in this one to carry the day.  The dismal Chase Utley, relagated to the 8-hole, also cracked a 2-run homer, but his frustrating season continued on when he was ejected late in the game for arguing the strike zone. Billingsley was not sharp, but managed to get himself out of some trouble using his jam and the on a few times.
***RECORD ALERT*** - Young Mike Stanton managed to tie the league single season HR mark with his second longball of this game, which is held by Adrian Gonzalez's 2009 mark (Spencer) of 16 .  
Torto wins 7-2

Game 3: R.A.Dickey vs. R.Nolasco
Now fully fearful of a 'Joe Mauer kicking Roy Halladay' moment, I decided to rest most of my everyday players, with the exception of Stanton (going for that HR record) and Dexter Fowler (just off the DL, needed the work).  Nolasco was dialed in and pitched a 2-hit gem against my B-squad, allowing only 1 run in 6 innings.  The Marlins were just happy to get out healthy from this one.  Stanton couldn't get that last HR he needed for the record of 17, going 0-3 with a walk.
Carlo wins 3-1

So both series were won 2-1, 2-1 by the Marlins.  Season complete and ready to see how things shake out for the playoffs.

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!