By Michael Rushton
Last week, Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla was questioning teammate Hanley Ramirez's desire to win. Needless to say, Ramirez responded and has put his club back into the mix for a postseason spot.
Uggla and Ramirez got into a shouting match before last Wednesday's contest versus the Braves, one day after Ramirez exited a game early due to a hamstring injury. The All-Star shortstop told reporters he felt some teammates didn't think he was really hurt enough to come out of the game, a comment that sparked Uggla's heated response.
The in-house fighting didn't slow down the Marlins, though, They have won seven of their last eight contests to climb within five games of first-place Philadelphia in the National League East.
Ramirez, meanwhile, has been on a tear. He is batting .440 (11-for-25) with three homers and 11 RBI since an 0-for-14 skid, and leads the NL with a .359 average. He also needs to drive in just four more runs to post his first career 100-RBI season.
"Everybody's loose and everybody is together right now," Ramirez told his team's Web site after finishing off a three-game sweep of the Mets with Thursday's 13-4 victory. "With runners in scoring position, we're getting big hits. Every day we've got another different hitter."
Florida is now 10 games over .500 (75-65) for the first time since it was 11-1 way back on April 19. The club is also 5 1/2 games back in the race for the NL Wild Card.
PHILLIES: TRYING TO FIX THE BULLPEN
Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge was the definition of perfect last year, converting all 48 of his save chances, including the postseason, to help lead the Phillies to a World Series title.
However, he has struggled in 2009 and manager Charlie Manuel has finally had enough.
Lidge has blown 10 saves this year and is pitching to a 6.97 earned run average. For the first time since he joined Philadelphia from Houston prior to last season, Manuel pulled his closer in the middle of game rather than chance Lidge letting another one get away.
That came on Tuesday versus Washington, as he loaded the bases with one out before Manuel made the switch to Ryan Madson. Madson closed the game out, then did so again the following night. That means Lidge will now pitch in low- pressure situations before reclaiming his former role.
"He hasn't lost [anything]," Manuel told the Phillies' Web site. "I'm telling you right now, he definitely can still close. I see where he could be our everyday closer again. Yeah, of course."
Until that day, it appears Madson will take over the role as finisher. He is not an automatic option, though, as he has blown five saves this year. Brett Myers, who returned from a hip injury and is in the bullpen, could also get some chances after saving 21 games in 2007.
BRAVES: STRUGGLING ON OFFENSE
If the Atlanta Braves do miss out on the postseason for a fourth straight season, it will be because of the way they started the month of September.
Looking to climb up the NL Wild Card standings, and maybe even take a run at first-place Philadelphia, Atlanta instead hit just .185 over a five-game losing streak from September 2-6.
The Braves then managed just eight hits in splitting the first two tests of a three-game series with the Astros before erupting for 16 hits in a 9-7 victory on Thursday. Atlanta had plated just 10 runs total over its previous six games.
"To come out [Thursday night] and put some good swings on was definitely something we needed to do," said Brian McCann on Atlanta's official Web site.
McCann was speaking from experience. He had zero hits in his last 20 at-bats before going 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI versus the Astros on Thursday.
However, the damage may have already been done. The Braves, who have won just two of their last eight games, trail the Phillies by eight games in the NL East standings and have fallen 8 1/2 games out of the wild card spot.
NATIONALS: DESMOND A FACTOR IN DEBUT
Thursday was a day Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond will never forgot. It was almost for the wrong reasons.
After being selected 84th overall in the 2004 draft, Desmond made his big- league debut versus the Phillies and went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in. His RBI total was a franchise record for the most by a player in his first major league game, while his three-run homer in the fifth inning made him the first Nats rookie to blast a home run in his first game since Brandon Watson in 2005.
"I felt great on the field," Desmond said on Washington's Web site. "The ball was just crystal clear. Everything was just so clear. I felt good."
Desmond also nearly homered in his first career at-bat, driving a long fly ball to center field that was caught. However, Thursday's game also saw the Nationals nearly blow a six-run lead before holding on for an 8-7 victory. The Phillies scored five runs in the top of the ninth, a frame that featured an error by Desmond, and had the tying run on third before Ryan Howard hit into a game-ending double play.
The 23-year-old was rated Washington's fourth best prospect by Baseball America in 2006 and hit a combined .330 in 97 games this year in Double and Triple-A.
METS: DESPITE LITTLE INCENTIVE, BELTRAN RETURNS
With the New York Mets 18 games back of first place in the NL East, few would have blamed Carlos Beltran if he didn't come back to play this season.
After all, the center fielder hadn't seen action since June 21 thanks to a bone bruise on his right knee that just refused to heal.
However, there was Beltran on Tuesday, going 1-for-4 in a 4-2 loss to the Marlins that saw him make a nice sliding catch in field while also falling a few feet short of connecting on a grand slam in the seventh inning.
Beltran's return was hardly a surprise to the man himself. "Why not? This is my job," he told New York's Web site when asked why he came back to play in 2009.
The 32-year-old was hitting .336 with eight homers and 40 RBI in 62 games prior to his injury. He went 1-for-4 and scored a run on Wednesday before getting the next day off.
No comments:
Post a Comment