Florida Marlins Sweep The Phillies Over The Weekend

Sports Betting News - August 10th, 2009 - Written by Ryan Smith

All eyes were on the Red Sox versus the Yankees this weekend, as the two most popular teams in the American League East, battled for rights to the top spot in the division. Just a few miles down the road another division rivalry took place, this time in the National League East. The Florida Marlins entered Friday nights game, the first game of the series, down 7 games to the Phillies in the N.L. East division. Just like the Yankees, the Marlins swept through the Phillis in all three games played.

On Friday starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco carried the Marlins with his 8th win of the season. Nolasco dominated the Phillies top four batters, holding them to 1-12 as a unit and struck out 7 of their best hitters. Nolasco also recorded four 1-2-3 innings, in the seven innings he pitched, and claimed five strike outs on off speed pitches. The Marlins barley scored runs in this game, but the Domenic of Nolasco held off the Phillies, and the Marlins won the game with a final score of 3-2.

The second game came on Saturday night, and the marlins called up Sean West from the minors, to return to action against the Phillies. Sean West was scheduled to start against the Phillies best pitcher, in last years world series MVP, Cole Hamels. The Marlins started off early, with a lead home run from rookie Chris Coghlan, but Sean West returned to runs to the Phillis in the bottom of the second inning. The Marlins capped a late game rally with a Cody Ross two-run home run, and reliever Brian Sanchez handled the Phillies batting lineup the rest of the game. The Marlins pulled off the victory with a final score of 6-4.

The last game of the series came on Sunday afternoon, and the Marlins placed their best pitcher, Josh Johnson on the mound. Though Johnson pitched another dominant performance Sunday afternoon with 6 strike outs in 6 inning of one run baseball, it was the Florida Marlins batting lineup that won the game. Rookie out fielder Chris Coghlan broke a Florida Marlins record, becoming the first rookie in franchise history to record 2 hits or more in 8 straight games. Coghlan finished the game going 4-6, with 2 RBI's, and 3 runs scored.  Team captain Hanley Ramirez also got 4 hits and drove in 3 RBI's himself, in fact 5 out of the first 6 batters recorded two hits or more in the baseball game. The Marlins dominated the Phillies with a final score of 12-3, and improved their record in Citizens bank park to 5-1 on the season.

The Marlins are now only 4 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the N.L. East division, and three games behind the San Francisco Giants in the wild card race. The Philadelphia Phillies have now lost 6 of their last 8 games, and the marlins get a 7 game home stand this week. If the Marlins can improve on their home record, with these next 7 games, they have a good chance to regain the top spot in the division before the season ends. These two teams play two more series before the season ends, the last series comes in the last three games of the season at Philadelphia.

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