Sunday, May 25, 2008

Gregg, Uggla Highlight DH Sweep of Giants

Maybe the Marlins should be in the NL West? After all, the first place Fish sweep the vaunted Diamondbacks before winning 2 of 3 at home vs the lowly Giants.

Things didn't look good in either game, but the Marlins rallied in both to come out on top 8-6 and 5-4. The opening game of the doubleheader featured 4 home runs by the Florida lineup and a clutch save by closer Kevin Gregg, who has been solid all season.

Gregg appeared later in the doubleheader, keeping a 4-4 tied heading into the bottom of the 9th before eventually picking up the win. His contributions have been key to the Marlins' success this season. It's amazing how Florida always seems to milk saves out of their closers, even when they are nobodies. From Armando Benitez, Urbina, Borowski, Todd Jones, all of these guys are hardly Mariano Rivera's. They still seem to produce career years in the closer role for the Marlins though.

However, the hero of the day was Dan Uggla, who hit his Marlins record 12th home run of the month in the first game of the doubleheader. He then continued his valuable production with the 2 out bases loaded single in the bottom of the 9th that clinched the series. I really hope that Dan will get some recognition if he keeps it up. The announcers mentioned Chase Utley as a shoo-in for the All-Star spot at 2B, but I would think Uggla will make people think twice.

The Marlins are now sitting pretty at 29-20, half a game back of several teams for the best record in baseball. Little by little, the season is ticking away and the Marlins remain on top of the leaderboard. It really is an amazing story, now with almost 1/3rd of the year in the books.

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