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How do they come out for an encore to the 2020 season?? This division will be so fun to watch. All 5 teams are talented, and really I don't think there's any more than 15, 20 games that separates first place from last place, so unfortunately, at years end there's going to be 3, possibly 4 good teams that will miss out on the postseason. They acquired starting pitcher Adam Cimber from the Indians, traded SP Jordan Yamamoto to the Mets, signed relief pitcher Anthony Bass, and OF Adam Duvall from the division rival Braves as well as acquiring Dodgers reliever Dylan Florio. SS Isan Diaz, who debuted in 2019 before opting out last year, and starting pitcher Sixto Sanchez were both assigned to minor league camp, but I'd expect to see players back with the major league time later in the year, and of course have a full season of Starling Marte who they acquired at the 2020 trade deadline from Arizona.
Best case scenario: They hold their own in the division, beat up on the dregs of the Central, West, and Orioles & Red Sox in the AL East, and are still in playoff contention in the middle of September. I don't think they'll win the division, but I wouldn't be all that surprised if they were a Wildcard team.
Worst case scenario: The Braves are still really good. Even in the best case scenario, I don't see them passing the Braves. The Mets also look really good. The Nats still have a great rotation and look really good. The Phillies made improvements at the back end of the bullpen so they could be really good, so even in the best case scenario above, it could be difficult to crack into the top 2 again.
My prediction: They hold their own in the division, and beat the teams they are supposed to beat (Pirates, Rockies, Orioles, etc), so they finish a couple games under .500 at 79-83. Unfortunately, it's not enough as the Mets, Phillies, and Nats all finish above them in the standings, and they finish in 5th, but only 13 games behind the first place Braves as all teams 1-5 were bunched up throughout the season.
The 2021 season opens at home Thursday against the AL champions in state Tampa Bay Rays. Sandy Alcontera (3-2, 3.00 in '20) starts for the Marlins while Tyler Glasnow (5-1, 4.08 last season) starts for the Rays after they shipped Blake Snell across the country to San Diego in the offseason. Game time scheduled for 4:10 at the now re-named LoanDepot Park.
Randy Arozarena had a 2 out single in the first, Brandon Lowe walked, and Yandy Diaz was hit by a pitch, but Kevin Kiermaier flied out to end the first. Lowe doubled to lead off the 4th, but Sandy Alcantara stranded him on 2nd inducing Diaz to fly out, and Kiermaier and Willy Adames to strike out. Austin Meadows had the lone run in the 8th, a sole home run off of Yimi Garcia, and the Marlins had their lone threat in the bottom half: Jorge Alfaro had a 1 out single, and 1 batter later Garrett Cooper had a pinch hit walk, but Corey Dickerson ended the threat with a fly out. Kiermaier and Adames each had 2 out singles in the 9th, and Mike Zunino walked to load the bases, but Manuel Margot grounded into a force out to leave the Rays off the board, and Diego Castillo put the marlins down 1-2-3 in the 9th to close out the Rays first win of the year. Alcontera allowed 2 hits with 2 walks (1 hit by pitch) and 7 strikeouts in 6 shutout innings while Garcia (0-1) allowed 1 run on 1 hit (1 home run) with 0 walks and 1 strikeout in 1 inning. Tyler Glasnow had 6 strikeouts and 1 hit allowed in 6 shutout innings, Ryan Thompson (1-0) had 1 strikeout and 1 hit in 1 inning, Pete Fairbanks (1st hold) had a walk and hit allowed in 1 inning and Castillo (1st save) had 2 strikeouts in a 1-2-3 9th. In other East action on the day, the Phillies got a walkoff 3-2 win over the Braves in 10 innings, while the Mets and Nats were postponed due to Covid cases in the Nats traveling party, so they might not play at all this week, at best they'll resume play Saturday, but Sunday or even next week is the more likely scenario. Phillies are leading the way at 1-0, Mets and Nats are a half back at 0-0, while the Braves and Marlins are 1 back at 0-1.
Ryan Yarborough (1-4, 3.56 in '20) starts for the Rays while the Fish give the ball to Pablo Lopez (6-4, 3.61) who will look to even the series in game 2. Game time scheduled for 7:10.
Austin Meadows had a 1 out walk, and Randy Arozarena followed with a single to put runners on first and second, but Pablo Lopez got Brandon Lowe to strikeout, and Yandy Diaz to ground out to end it. Miguel Rojas and Starling Marte started the 4th with back to back singles, and following a Jesus Aguilar fly out, Garrett Cooper grounded into a double play to keep the game scoreless. Meadows had a 1 out home run in the 6th for the games’ first run, and in the bottom half, Marte had a 2 out double, Aguilar walked, but Cooper ended the inning with a fly out. Manuel Margot had a 2 out home run in the 7th to put the Rays in front 2-0, but the Marlins came back in the bottom half; following 2 strikeouts Jazz Chisholm triples, Jorge Alfaro walked, Corey Dickerson doubled with put the Marlins on the board for the first time in ’21, and Rojas followed with a 2 RBI single to put the Marlins in front 3-2, their first lead of the new season! Aguilar singled to lead off the 8th, got replaced by Magneuris Sierra to pinch run, Sierra stole second and scored on a Brian Anderson single to make it 4-2, who advanced to second on a throwing error, following a ground out he went to 3rd, Chisholm followed with a walk, but the Marlins couldn’t get that 5th run across which loomed large as we’ll see as Alfaro ended the inning with a fly out. Lowe and Diaz had back to back 1 out singles in the 9th, Joey Wendle had a 3 run homer to RF that put the Rays in front for good at 5-4, Margot followed with a triple, and scored on Francisco Mejia’s sac fly. Marte had a 2 out single in the bottom of the inning, went to second on defensive indifference but Sierra ended the game with a ground out. Hindsight is 20/20 and they did get a run out of it in the prior inning, but certainly would’ve preferred to have Aguilar batting in that spot where 1 swing could tie the game. Ryan Yarborough allowed 4 hits and had 3 strikeouts in 5.2 scoreless, Pete Fairbanks (2nd hold), Chaz Roe (1st hold) combined for 3 runs on 3 hits with a walk and 2 strikeouts in 1 inning, Ryan Sherriff (1st blown save) had 1 run on 2 hits in 1/3 of an inning, Andrew Kittredge (1-0) had 1 run on 2 hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1 inning, and Diego Castillo (2nd save) had 1 hit and 1 strikeout in a scoreless inning. Lopez allowed 2 hits with 2 walk and 4 strikeouts in 5 scoreless, Yimi Garcia (1st hold) had a walk and a strikeout in a hitless inning, while Anthony Bass (0-1, 1st blown save) allowed 4 runs on 4 hits (1 homer) with a strikeout in 1 inning. All other East teams on the day had the day off; Phillies/Braves had an off day in Philadelphia, while the Mets/Nats series this weekend has been officially wiped out, so neither of those teams will play again until at least Monday: Mets in Philly, Nats at home to Atlanta. So, the standings remain relatively unchanged: Phillies are still atop the division at 1-0, Mets and Nats are a half game back at 0-0, Braves at 0-1 are 1 back, and the Marlins fall to 1.5 back at 0-2.
Rays will go for the series sweep on Saturday where they’ll give the ball to Rich Hill (2-2, 3.03 last year with the Twins) while Elieser Hernandez (1-0, 3.16) gets the ball for the Marlins with game time scheduled for 6:10.
Miguel Rojas walked to lead off the bottom of the first, Starling Marte singled, each pulled off a double steal to move to 2nd and 3rd Jesus Aguilar had a sac fly to score Rojas for a 1-0 lead but Garrett Cooper struck out and Lewis Brinson ended the inning with a ground out to prevent further runs from scoring. Yandy Diaz lead off the Rays second with a single, and 3 batters later Mike Zunino would put the Rays in front 2-1 with a 2 out, 2 run homer. Jon Berti had a 1 out double in the bottom half, scored on Chad Wallach single, but Wallach would get thrown out at the plate on a Rojas double. Austin Meadows and Manuel Margot had 1 out singles in the 3rd but a Joey Wendle strikeout and a Diaz ground out ended that scoring opportunity for the Rays, while Cooper homered in the bottom half to put the Marlins in front 3-2. Jazz Chisholm had a leadoff walk in the 4th, stole second and third, and scored on a Wallach sac fly. Mike Brosseau singled to lead off the 5th, a sac bunt moved him to 2nd, Meadows walked to put runners on first and second, and Margot had an RBI single to cut the Marlins lead to 1 at 4-3. Wendle singled to tie the score at 4-4, and Diaz gave the Rays a lead with a 2 run double, with the marlins averting further damage as Kevin Kiermaier ended the inning with a double play. Marte had a 1 out single in the bottom half, scored on an Aguilar double, and Aguilar came home when Cooper reached on an error, but Brinson struck out, and Chisholm flied out. Rojas walked to lead off the 7th, Marte followed with a single, and Aguilar walked to load the bases. Cooper gave the Marlins the lead for good with a RBI single, following 2 strikeouts Berti added a couple more insurance runs on a 2 RBI single. Wendle doubled to start the 8th and following 2 groundouts he scored when Willy Adames reached on an error. Adam Duvall had a pinch hit home run to lead off the 8th, Rojas walked, Marte had a triple, and Marte scored on a Cooper double to complete the scoring at 12-7, with Brinson popping up, and Chisholm striking out leaving Cooper at 2nd. Rich Hill allowed 4 runs on 5 hits (1 home run) with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts in 4 innings and Chris Archer (0-1) allowed 4 runs (3 earned) , on 4 hits with a walk and 2 strikeouts in 2 innings. Elieser Hernandez left with an injury after 2.1 allowing 2 runs on 2 hits (1 home run) with 3 strikeouts, Adam Cimber (1st blown save) allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 2/3’s of an inning, Richard Bleier (1-0) had a strikeout in a hitless inning while Dylan Floro (1st hold) allowed an unearned run on 1 hit in 1 inning. Phillies beat the Braves 4-0 in the only other divisional game of the day which means the Phillies are still in first at 2-0, Nats and Mets are 1 back at 0-0, Marlins are 1.5 back at 1-2, and the Braves are 2 back at 0-2
Both teams will have a rare Sunday off, I believe the only Sunday off for either team this year before resuming play on Monday. Marlins stay at home and welcome the St. Louis Cardinals into Miami, first time seeing the Cards since the summer of 2019. Trevor Rogers (1-2, 6.11 last year) is the scheduled starter for the Marlins while the Cards scheduled starter is Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-3, 4.96 last year) with game time slated for 6:40. Rays meanwhile will continue their road trip as they head up to Boston for 3 games beginning on Monday evening.
Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt started the game with back to back walks, a flyout and a wild pitch loaded the bases with 1 out, a passed ball made it 1-0, a flyout followed, but Yadi Molina cashed in the 2 other runners on base with a double Dylan Carlson walked before Austin Dean ended the inning with a strikeout. Brian Anderson had a 1 out double in the 4th, but 2 groundouts left him there, and in the 5th Tommy Edman had a home run to make it 5-0. Jon Berti walked in the bottom half of the 5th, went to second on a Magneuris Sierra bunt single, each advanced on a Corey Dickerson groundout, Berti scored on a Starling Marte sac fly, but Jesus Aguilar flied out to prevent any further runs. Taylor Rogers (0-1) allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits with 6 strikeouts and 4 walks in 4 innings. Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-0) allowed 1 run on 3 hits with a walk and 3 strikeouts in 5 innings, Jordan Hicks (1st hold), and Giovanny Gallegos (1st hold) had 3 strikeouts and 1 hit in 3 innings, while Alex Reyes (1st save) allowed a hit in 1 inning. In other east series this week: The Nats host the Braves for 3 games, beginning on Tuesday, with a double header for Wednesday after the Monday game was postponed, and the Mets are in Philly for 3 with the Phillies beginning on Friday
The series continues on Tuesday. Jon Gant (0-3, 2.40) gets the start for the Redbirds, his first start since 2018 after pitching out of the bullpen the last 2 seasons. Marlins will hand the ball to their opening day starter, Sandy Alcontera (0-0, 0.00) who held the Rays scoreless for 6 innings on opening day.
Cody Dickerson started the 1st with a single, and scored on a Tyler O’Neil error, Garrett Cooper walked to put runners on the corner, Adam Duvall grounded into a 5-3 double play, Brian Anderson walked, but Jazz Chisholm struck out. Dickerson was hit by a pitch to start the 3rd, Marte singled, Cooper walked to load the bases but Duvall struck out, Anderson popped up, and Chisholm struck out. Miguel Rojas singled with 1 out in the 4th, stole second, but Sandy Alcontera grounded out and Dickerson lined out to end the inning. 2 singles and a walk loaded the bases in the 5th and Chisholm plated the 2nd Marlins run with a sac fly, but the Cards prevented further runs by striking out Jorge Alfaro. 2 singles and a walk to start the 6th loaded the bases for the Cardinals, who scored their first run on a passed ball, got their second run on a Paul Dejong ground out, and Yadi Molina gave the Cards the 3-2 lead on a sac fly. Jon Berti walked with 1 out in the bottom half, a 2 out wild pitch moved him to second, but Marte popped out. Dejong walked with 1 out in the 8th, 2 batters later Molina had a single but O’Neil flied out to end the inning. Chisholm lead off the 8th for the Marlins with a double, but Alfaro struck out, Rojas flied out, Jesus Aguilar pinch hitting walked, but Dickerson lined out, and in the top of the 9th Dylan Carlson added an insurance run for the Cards to complete the scoring. Jon Gant allowed 1 unearned run on 4 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts in 4 innings, Ryan Helsley (1-0) allowed 1 run on 2 hits with a strikeout and 2 walks in 1.1, Genesis Cabrera (1st hold), Giovanny Gallegos (2nd hold), and Tyler Webb (1st hold) combined to allow 1 hit with 4 strikeouts in 2.1 scoreless, while Alex Reyes (2nd save) had a walk and a strikeout in a hitless 1.1. Alcontera (0-1) allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits with 2 walks and 10 strikeouts in 6 innings.
The finale of the 3 game series is on Wednesday. Jack Flaherty (0-0, 12.46) starts for the Cards while Pablo Lopez (0-0, 0.00) gets the ball for the Marlins with game time scheduled for 4:10.
Corey Dickerson started the first with a single, Starling Marte walked, but Dickerson got picked off trying to steal 3rd, Jesus Aguilar walked which would have loaded the bases with 0 outs instead the Marlins went meekly on a Garrett Cooper flyout which moved Marte to 3rd and Brian Anderson ended the inning on a force out. Nolan Arenado singled with 1 out in the 4th, moved to second on a groundout by Paul Dejong, moved to 3rd on a passed ball, but Matt Carpenter ended the inning with a strikeout. Carpenter had a 2 out walk in the 7th and scored on a Yadi Molina home run to put the Cards up 2-0, and got a 3rd run in the 8th as Tommy Edman singled with 2 out, stole second, and scored on a Paul Goldschmidt base hit, and Dickerson had a 2 out double in the bottom half, but Marte grounded out to end the inning. 2 walks and a hit batter to start the 9th loaded the bases, Tyler O’Neil would strike out, but Dylan Carlson would put the games away and give the Cards the series sweep with a grand slam. Justin Williams and Edman would follow with singles, but Goldschmidt flied out and Arenado struck out. Aguilar singled to lead off the bottom half, moved to second on a wild pitch, Anderson walked, but the game ended on 2 straight line outs. Jack Flaherty (1-0) had 4 walks, 6 strikeouts and 1 hit allowed over 6 innings and Genesis Cabrera (2nd hold) had 2 strikeouts and 1 hit allowed in 2 innings. Pablo Lopez (0-1) allowed 2 runs on 3 hits (1 home run) with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts in 6.2. In other East action this week the Phillies won 2 of 3 against the Mets and the Braves swept a double header in DC and won 2 of 3 against the Nats. That leaves the Phillies still in first at 5-1, Nats and Mets are 2.5 back at 1-2, Braves at 2-4 are 3 back, and the 1-5 Marlins are 4 back.
Both teams play on Thursday. Cardinals head home for their home opener against the Brewers. Marlins meanwhile will head to Queens for the first home game of the Steve Cohen and Francisco Lindor era in Queens. Taijuan Walker (4-3, 2.70 last year with the Mariners & Blue Jays) starts for the Mets while the Marlins starters is TBD, first pitch scheduled for around 1:10, pending opening day festivities in Queens.
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2021: 0-0
