Game 155 Recap: Royals Maintain Integrity Of The
Race, Fall To Tigers

post from Royals Review - All Posts on 26 September 2012 11:01:59 PM. © Royals Review - All Posts

At least we're preserving the integrity of the pennant race.

--- Jeremy Guthrie was... steady. Except for the fourth inning where he made two mistakes that were crushed. Walks and homers, people... Walks and homers.

--- With an 0-5 night, the Eric Hosmer Death Spiral continues. He has four hits in his last 44 plate appearances dating back to September 13. Almost 40 percent of his outs have been groundouts. This does not look healthy:

(Courtesy of Brooks Baseball.) That doesn't include Wednesday's game, but still...

--- Jeff Francoeur hit a home run. He now has 14 homers and 43 RBI in 569 plate appearances. The average major leaguer with 569 plate appearances has driven home 61 runners. From Baseball Reference, here are the players most frequently driven in by Francoeur:

Himself - 14
Perez - 6
Gordon - 5
Butler - 4
Moustakas - 4

What makes this list even more amazing (as if that's possible) is that Perez has only played half a season.

--- A1... Gold Glove, Part 2.

Saw a tweet from a Fielding Bible guy that the Cabrera shot was in the air for 6.7 seconds. That's crazy. Rainmaker.

--- I'm not entirely sure why Irving Falu put that ball in his pocket while trying to turn the double play in the pivotal eighth inning. It looked like he had time to get off the throw. And as Uncle Hud pointed out during the postgame, fundamentally Falu should have come across the base and taken the throw on the third base side of the bag. Good slide, though.

--- We're still in third place. Progress!

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Quick Cap: Miami Marlins 0, Atlanta Braves 3

post from Fish Stripes - All Posts on 26 September 2012 11:01:58 PM. © Fish Stripes - All Posts

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 23,420
Hero of the Game: This game could have no such thing as heroes.
Goat of the Game: Bryan Petersen (-0.121 WPA)
Play of the Game: Martin Prado homered in the first inning. (-0.117 WPA)

The Miami Marlins were hoping that Josh Johnson could pull the Fish out of a recent slide that included losing two of three to the Atlanta Braves and getting swept by the New York Mets. The team was looking for Johnson to pull off the classic ace role of "stopper" to prevent the Marlins from sliding further in their losing skid.

That did not happen. In fact, for the Marlins, nothing seemed to happen in this game.

Johnson had an erratic outing that included seven strikeouts and five walks in six innings. He also gave up a home run to Martin Prado that really turned out to be all the Braves needed. That was the case because the Marlins' putrid offense, without Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Ruggiano, made Braves starter Paul Maholm look like Tom Glavine. Maholm whiffed six Marlins in almost seven innings, the Fish only mustered six hits, and the team was shut out again to the tune of 3-0.

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Miami Marlins Shut Out By Atlanta Braves, 3-0

post from Fish Stripes - All Posts on 26 September 2012 11:01:58 PM. © Fish Stripes - All Posts

The Miami Marlins' offense was futile against Paul Maholm and the Atlanta Braves, and Josh Johnson posted his most erratic start in 2012 on the way to a 3-0 shutout loss.

Current Series

Braves lead the series 1-0

Tue 09/25 WP: Craig Kimbrel (3 - 1)
LP: Michael Dunn (0 - 3)
3 - 4 loss

Miami Marlins Fish Stripes
@ Atlanta Braves Talking Chop

Wednesday, Sep 26, 2012, 7:10 PM EDT
Turner Field

Josh Johnson vs Paul Maholm

Clear. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80.

Complete Coverage >

Thu 09/27 7:10 PM EDT

The Miami Marlins did not take kindly to a bitter 4-3 loss that not only was stolen from them in the ninth inning but also clinched a playoff berth for the division rival Atlanta Braves. The Fish will go against the Braves again tonight in the penultimate road game of the season, and the Marlins at least will send ace Josh Johnson to the mound in this case. Against him will be the slow-tossing Paul Maholm, who has done pretty well against the Marlins this season.

Pitching Matchup

Proj Win%Proj ERAFIPERAMarlinsBravesERAFIPProj ERAProj Win%------3.353.84JohnsonMaholm3.854.12------

The Marlins will send ace Josh Johnson to the mound again, but they really wish they knew which Johnson they were going to get in any given outing. Johnson has had some shaky outings, including his last two against the Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies. Johnson has walked six batters in 13 innings but also has whiffed 11, so his strikeouts and walks are both up. As of late, he has also given up plenty of home runs. Since the start of August, Johnson has given up six home runs, and that has brought his season total one shy of his career high for a single season.

Maholm has been solid for the Braves after being solid for the Chicago Cubs. In fact, Paul Maholm has basically been the same guy since 2008, so at this point, people can refer to what happened in 2008 to see what Paul Maholm has done in any given season. He is basically the same guy back then (3.71 ERA, 4.15 FIP) that he is now.

Lineup

OrderPlayerProj wOBA vs. RHP1 Bryan Petersen.2972Gorkys Hernandez.2753Jose Reyes.3404Carlos Lee.3375Greg Dobbs.2596Donovan Solano.2917John Buck.3008Gil Velazquez---

Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Ruggiano remain out of the lineup with their day-to-day ailments, and while Stanton has expressed the desire to get back on the field, he probably will not be pinch-hitting until at least tomorrow. As for tonight's lineup, oh my goodness. Petersen and Dobbs have been forced to play against the lefty Maholm, as Austin Kearns's bad back apparently is still bad enough to keep him from playing the outfield as well. Dobbs may be the least useful player in the lineup, and we have Gil Velazquez in there.

Notes

- If you did not already see it, please check out Fish Stripes's Ehsan Kassim and his piece on the decision the Marlins will have to make regarding Johnson's future with the club. It is a must-read.

Bold Prediction: Braves def. Marlins 3-1

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Norris pitches Astros to 2-0 win over Cardinals
(Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2012 11:01:04 PM. © MLB News Blog

HOUSTON (AP) — Bud Norris pitched into the eighth inning for his first win since May 21, and Jose Altuve homered and the Houston Astros avoided a sweep with a 2-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, who are vying for the second NL wild card, on Wednesday night.

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Harper hits 20th home run, Nats beat Phillies
(Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2012 11:00:54 PM. © MLB News Blog

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper hit his 20th homer, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki also connected and the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 Wednesday night to move closer toward winning their first division title since moving to Washington.

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Tigers beat Royals on Peraltas groundout in 8th
(Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2012 10:59:51 PM. © MLB News Blog

DETROIT (AP) — Most of the 32,360 fans at Comerica Park groaned when Jhonny Peralta hit a tailor-made double-play grounder that looked set to end the eighth inning.

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Rays keep pace with 7th straight, beat Boston 4-2
(Yahoo! Sports)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 September 2012 10:55:38 PM. © MLB News Blog

BOSTON (AP) — Carlos Pena and Ben Francisco hit back-to-back, tape-measure homers in the fifth inning on Wednesday night to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to their seventh consecutive victory, 4-2 over the Boston Red Sox.

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Yankees magic number down to 6 after beating
Twins 8-2

[...]

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Braun homers, Brewers beat Reds 8-1 (Yahoo!
Sports)

CINCINNATI (AP) — Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 41st home run on Wednesday night, and the Milwaukee Brewers kept their wild-card chances flickering with an 8-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

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Kemps 4 hits power Dodgers to 8-2 win over Padres
(Yahoo! Sports)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Matt Kemp drove the ball to and over the center field fence with authority, showing that his left shoulder is OK.

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