Another June day, another loss. That’s just the way it has been going this month for the Marlins, who dropped their 14th straight one run game. The Fish opened the season 14-4 in contests decided by one run, but in recent history have not been able to close out those games.
Florida was visiting Oakland Tuesday night after losing the Seattle series. In the top of the first, Emilio Bonifacio singled to lead off and that was all the offense Florida got on the night…quite literally. Bonifacio’s single was the only hit of the ballgame for the Fish. The Marlins did have several other base runners though, drawing three walks in addition to Bonifacio reaching on an error. Other than these small mistakes, Athletics’ starter Gio Gonzalez completely shut down the Fish K-ing nine over eight frames.
In the second inning, the A’s had runners on second and third with one out when Kurt Suzuki lined a sacrifice fly to right. Mike Stanton laid out to make a tremendous catch, but Hideki Matsui tagged and scored for the only run of the game.
Javy Vasquez was on the money striking out five over seven innings surrendering an unearned run. He scattered three hits while being logged with his eighth loss of the year.
With the recent losing streak, unless the Marlins can make an unbelievable run in July, they will most likely be shipping some players off around the trade deadline. One player likely to be shopped is Vasquez. Prior to the season, Florida signedhim to a $7 million deal, unfortunately Vasquez has not produced as the Marlins were hoping for. Javy has not done as bad as he looks on paper , but his dismal stats might not be attractive to playoff-bound teams. Omar Infante also has some trade value, and his second base position could easily be filled by Emilio Bonifacio. After all, Boni and Infante have the same number of home runs this year (a solid one a piece).
The strong members of a losing team’s bullpen always seem vulnerable to be traded, but Florida’s bullpen has been a stronghold this year despite the team’s losing record. Valuable guys like Mujica, Cishek, and especially Nuñez are not as likely to be dealt as one may think.
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