Nolasco Two-Hit Gem Ends Streak

For 301 straight games, the Marlins were without a complete game.   That came to an end on Tuesday as Ricky Nolasco tossed a complete game shutout against the San Francisco Giants while the fish completed a 6-0 win.    Nolasco had allowed one hit through eight innings and that hit came in the first inning on a disputed call.   The Giants added another hit in the ninth but never put a run on the board.   The complete game shutout was the first for the Marlins since September 2006 when Dontrelle Willis tossed a gem.

Besides the two hits and the shutout, Nolasco added 11 strikeouts.   He dazzled Giants hitters all game long retiring 20 straight batters after the hit in the first inning on a ball that deflected off Mike Jacobs’ glove.   The Marlins’ first basemen did have to dive for the ball and it could’ve been ruled either way but the official scorer decided it was not enough for an error to be charged.   It did not make a difference after the second hit was added to the board later on.   Nolasco is now 12-7 on the year with a 3.67 E.R.A cementing himself as the ace of the Marlins staff.

The series continues on Wednesday when the Marlins face one of the Giants terrific young talents in Matt Cain.   The Marlins will try to win consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month by sending Scott Olsen to the mound.

Believe

Coming off a homestand that saw the Marlins drop five games in seven, keeping the faith is something that is hard to do for many fans.   The homestand saw the Marlins move four and a half games off the pace in the National League East with seven fewer games remaining on the schedule.   Things got a lot tougher this past week but there is no reason to not believe this team can still pull this off.   The team that nobody picked to do anything this year has been in contention all season long and they still are.   They thrive on showing the world that they can do what some would believe to be impossible.

It’s easy for a fan to hang his or her head today and say it was a good run, let’s pack things up and try again next year.   With a tough loss against the Cubs in game one of the series coming off two straight losses to St. Louis — it was easy for a fan to say this is it.   To say, that was the moment that all hope ended and things ended.    The fact is though, nothing ended that day and nothing ended today either.   The team didn’t hang it’s heads after that tough loss.  On the contrary, they battled to a big win and showed they still believed and still had the same fight they had all year long.   This team is too driven to succeed to give up because they are four and a half games out.   The fans need to keep the faith, and believe along with the team.  They’ve given us so many great moments this year and so many things to cheer for.   That is not over, there will be more to cheer for and those fans who lose the faith — will miss out on those moments.

Looking at the schedule, the Marlins have 37 games remaining including games against the two teams ahead of them which are the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.   This past week as the Marlins scuffled, the Mets went on a roll and won six straight.   This made things look a lot more bleak than they really are.  The Mets will not win every game left nor will they keep this pace up.    The Marlins need to put this homestand behind them and take care of business on this roadtrip.  As long as the team can remain in striking distance of New York and Philadelphia — it is in the Marlins’ hands what happens.   The fish will get their chance to overtake their Northeast rivals head on and they know this.

If you have quit on the Marlins and lost all hope, then I urge you to take a step back and rethink your decision.   Things look worse than they are when you consider everything.   It is August 17th, and the Marlins are in contention.   There is still two weeks until September and a lot can happen before and after then.   Nobody in that locker room has quit, and for fans of the team to quit on them is a big mistake.  Don’t make that mistake.

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