An Unexpected Bullpen Day In Miami For Arizona Diamondbacks

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Before the Miami Marlins concluded their three-game series vs the Arizona Diamondbacks, I had the opportunity to spend time with my former colleague Jody Jackson, and talk about old times living in the Valley of the Sun, when I lived there from 1999-2002.

The former Hallandale, FL., native has been in Phoenix since 2000 and I’d see her at Diamondbacks games and other assignments in the area. 

Our paths crossed when the Arizona Cardinals faced the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa for Super Bowl 43. The Steelers did win this game.

But Jackson asked me before the game, who I was pulling for in this contest? 

I told her there was no way that I could lose because I have loyalties to both areas. 

Jackson was working for FOX Sports Net before the company changed hands to Ballys.

When I lived in Arizona, the Diamondbacks captured their lone World Series Championship with a team that featured pitchers Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Matt Williams, Craig Counsell and Luis Gonzalez in 2001.

It was neat living in that area which won its first major championship in any sport since it came up short a couple of times with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.

Two years after I left Arizona, the Marlins won the World Series for its second title in their history. Counsell was also on this team which also had future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera, among others. 

My history with the Marlins goes far deeper than the MLB ties as I covered the franchise when it played in the Class A Florida State League.

This is my third season covering the Marlins and I make no bones about it that one of the best managers that I’ve ever worked with during My 42-year career is current Miami Skipper Don Mattingly. 

The Marlins current pilot has seen it all. 

He’s managed through a pandemic and led his team to a post-season in 2020, and there have been some notable front office changes. Former Yankees legend Derek Jeter is no longer the President and GM Kim Ng is calling the shots.

Every year, I always like to see these teams play once. Jackson didn’t make the trip last year because the team’s broadcasters didn’t travel.

Like the Marlins, Jackson has seen her team go through it’s ups and downs.

In 2021, the Diamondbacks went 52-110 and were fifth in the NL West. 

Things couldn’t have gone much worse for Manager Torey Luvullo but Arizona didn’t make a change.

Going into this series, Arizona led all-time 93-70 but in 2021, the Marlins won the season series 5-2.

Miami held the advantage at home 44-40 all-time.

Before Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners, Miami had won seven straight games.

Could the Marlins get back on track against their Sun Belt Rival during the week?

The answer is no as the Diamondbacks defeated Pablo Lopez (3-1) in the first contest Monday Night and Trevor Rogers (1-4) Tuesday Night, both by identical 5-4 scores.

Miami’s last chance at a win occurred on Wednesday afternoon as Elieser Hernandez (2-1) squared off against Madison Bumgarner (1-1).

When I looked at the Diamondbacks roster, I have to admit there were only three names that I recognized. 

Bumgarner, and pitchers Joe Mantiply and Ian Kennedy were the only players that I had heard of. 

Then again, when a team loses 110 games, you would expect them to have a high roster turnover and let some of the younger players in their system have a chance to gain experience in the big show.

What did I see on Wednesday? 

Bumgarner had a short stint on the mound as he was ejected after the first inning by veteran umpire Dan Bellino. 

The 32-year pitcher was thrown out at the end of the inning during a routine check of his hands for sticky substances. A fierce argument between the two ensued with Diamondbacks personnel needing to restrain Bumgarner. The situation escalated for several minutes before Bumgarner finally calmed down.

Bellino was disciplined for the incident while Bumgarner will not face further discipline. 

Bellino claimed Bumgarner was using profanity directed at him. Earlier in the inning, the veteran pitcher showed some frustration at a ball/strike call by home plate umpire Ryan Willis. That came minutes before the confrontation with Bellino.

By Friday, a rarity occurred and Bellino, who has been an MLB umpire for 15 years, did issue a public apology to Bumgarner.

As for the game itself, Hernandez gave up five runs but didn’t fare in the decision. Corbin Martin pitched four solid innings following Bumgarner in what would turn out to be an unexpected bullpen day for Arizona.

This contest was a first for me. 

The Diamondbacks entire lineup had left-handed hitters. There were four left-handed hitters along with five switch-hitters.

This contest was a see-saw battle. 

Miami took a 3-0 lead into the fourth inning and then the Diamondbacks put up a five spot to lead 5-3. The Snakes added another run in the sixth inning to lead 6-3. 

But in the seventh and eighth innings, Miami scored a pair in each frame to take 7-6 lead into the ninth inning.

Twenty-Six year-old Jupiter, Florida native Pavin Smith homered to right field off Anthony Bender (0-3) to send the 7,356 fans home as the Diamondbacks swept the Marlins with an 8-7 loss as Miami’s losing streak hit four games. 

The Diamondbacks record improved to 13-13 while the Marlins dropped to 12-12.

Jon Berti did his part for the Marlins offensively as he homered off of Bumgarner in the first inning and had his first two-home run game of his career. This was Bertie’s first career multi-home run game.

Jesus Aguilar hit a round-tripper and had three hits. Jazz Chisholm Jr. also had a pair of hits but that wasn’t enough to avert the sweep in a game that was overshadowed by the Bumgarner drama.

Arizona now leads the All-Time Series 96-70. 

After a four-game series that started in San Diego, the Marlins and Diamondback will see each other for a three-game series on Monday Night in Phoenix at Chase Field.

The Valley of the Sun hasn’t been kind to the Marlins as the Miami’s all-time record at Chase Field stands at 29-50.

If I were a betting man, the only thing that I’ll predict is if the Marlins see Bumgarner in this series, barring any early inning difficulties, the hurler should make it at least past one inning. 

The focus will be on the game and not the sideshow by the umpires that overshadowed Wednesday’s Game at LoanDepot Park. 

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, Subscribe at no cost to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Two MLB Franchises Miles Apart

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

If there were ever two franchises so far apart in many ways, then the Miami Marlins and Seattle Mariners would meet that criteria.

If you drove from Miami to Seattle, the distance is 3,293.9 miles and it would take 49 hours to drive barring any complications.

Prior to this past weekends series at LoanDepot Park, the two teams have only met 15 times as Miami held an edge, 8-7.

The Mariners joined MLB in 1977 and began playing their home games in the now demolished Seattle Kingdome. They are on their second venue at T-Mobile Park.

The Marlins started at Joe Robbie Stadium and are currently in their second venue as well. Miami’s first season was in 1993.

If you’re looking for a post-season comparison between the two teams, then the appearances are somewhat similar but yet miles apart.

Seattle has made the post-season three times. They have won the AL West Division three times and have played once in the Wild Card. 

In 2001, Seattle set the AL record for wins with 116 but that wasn’t enough to get the Mariners to the World Series. Unfortunately for Seattle, the franchise hasn’t returned to the post-season since that memorable year. 

The man that piloted this squad was former Yankee Lou Piniella.

Moreover, the Mariners are one of six franchises to never win a World Series and are the only one to never appear in the Fall Classic.

As of 2021, the Mariners record was 3,336-3,727 with a .472 winning percentage. Seattle has finished with a losing record in 30 of 45 seasons.

As for the Marlins, their record through 2021 was 2,088-2,438 with a .461 winning percentage.

The Fish have made the post-season three times but have made the most of their October appearances. Also Miami has never won a division title, the team owns a 24-14 mark in the playoffs. Miami’s last appearance in the playoffs was in 2020. Their three wild card berths have led to a pair of World Series Championships in 1997 and 2003.

Without inter-league play, we wouldn’t be seeing these two teams play since Miami plays Spring Training Games in the Florida Grapefruit League and Seattle is in Arizona’s Cactus League.

These two teams last faced each other in 2017 in Seattle with the Mariners winning the series 2-1.

During opening weekend at LoanDepot Park, I asked Marlins Manager Don Mattingly on whether he thought there were too many division games. The skipper told me that he liked a lot of division games because it was easier to prepare for his opponent due to the familiarity factor.

What was interesting about this series with Seattle is the 2022 Season marked the first time that there has ever been a Universal DH for the 162-game schedule. The change is now permanent with the new collective bargaining agreement.

Going into the series with Seattle, Miami’s record vs the Mariners in South Florida is 4-2. The Fish were 1-2 at Joe Robbie Stadium and 3-0 at Marlins Park.

What transpired over the weekend?

On Friday Night, Elieser Hernandez pitched five strong innings, stuck out five and walked only one as his team defeated Seattle 8-6. Jorge Solar and Miguel Rojas supplied the power to lead the fish to their sixth straight win. Hernandez improved his record to 2-1.

Parkland native Jesus Luzardo took care of business by going his longest out of the season. Luzardo shut down the Mariners by going six innings and striking out five to improve his record to 2-1. He pitched a two-hitter and out dueled Mariners All-Star pitcher Robbie Ray (2-2). Brian Anderson provided the offense with two hits and scored a run.

The Marlins winning streak climbed to seven games as they looked to sweep the Mariners on Sunday by reaching eight.

You couldn’t ask for a better pitching matchup.

Seattle (11-10) 3rd in the AL West, sent Logan Gilbert to the hill. Gilbert was 3-0 with a .40 ERA, with 22 strikeouts in 22.1 innings pitched.

Miami (12-8) 2nd NL East had a stud of their own with Sandy Alcantara, who entered the contest with a 2-0 mark, 1.78 ERA, 20 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched.

Miami entered the game going 8-2 in the last 10 games with Seattle on a four-game road slide.

This has the makings of a good old fashioned pitchers duel.

Would it turn out that way?

Not particularly.

Gilbert had a good outing by pitching 5.2 innings and struck out five, throwing 102 pitches, 65 for strikes. 

The only mistake he made was giving up a home run to Anderson in the sixth inning.

Alcantara also pitched 5.2 innings, gave up six hits and five runs, but two of those were the result of home runs. Alcantara did register six strikeouts. He threw 103 pitches, 65 for strikes.

On pitch 103, Julio Rodriguez picked a good time to hit his first home run of the season. Alcantara was hoping to get out of a jam and Mattingly attempted to give his hurler that opportunity.

But it took one swing of the bat and the Mariners were up 5-0 in route to a 7-3 win.

In a game that took 3:22 to complete, the only statistic that mattered is they left 12 runners on base.

Alcantara’ s record dropped to 2-1 while Gilbert improved to 4-0.

Two streaks came to an end on Bark at the Park Day.

Miami’s seven game ended while Seattle’s road streak stopped at four.

The announced crowd was 16,741 and 232 dogs.

Five Marlins pitchers gave up 12 Seattle hits.

In addition to Rodriguez, JP Crawford was problematic for Miami as he reached base three times, collecting a double, home run and a walk. Jesse Winkler had a three hit afternoon.

The Marlins record dropped to 12-9 while Seattle improved to 12-10.

Who knows when we’ll see these two teams again, but the Marlins did win the series 2-1 as they host the Arizona Diamondbacks for three games. 

Ironically, both teams have had former Yankees players manage their teams. As for mentioned, Piniella and Don Mattingly.

After the D-Back series, they’ll  travel to the West Coast and a visit to San Diego to face the Padres next weekend.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

To see his broadcasts, Subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no charge.

Soccer In South Florida

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

What a difference a week makes.

Last weekend, I made my first trip to DRV-PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, the previous sight of the now demolished Lockhart Stadium, to see the Miami Hurricanes in their Spring Game.

If you look close enough on the field, you can still see the football field. But you have to look very deep to see the gridiron. As I continued to look at the field, I gained a greater appreciation of how good these athletes are. Compared to a football field, the soccer field is so much wider.

But when I think of soccer in Fort Lauderdale, it’s impossible to for me to not reflect on my past history covering the Strikers back in 1982-83. I met my best friend Chip Namias who was the Strikers Director of Public Relations.

Jan Van Beveran was the Strikers goaltender. Other players on the Strikers include Teofilo Cubillas, Ray Hudson, Branko Segota, Robert Meschbach, Brian Kidd, Ken Fogerty and Keith Weller were some of the key players. The team was coached by Eckhard Krautzon and was 18-14. This team made the playoffs.

The attendance that season was 197,525 and the team averaged 12,345 in 16 home dates.

The 1983 Season saw a coaching change with David Chadwick taking over. The team regressed to a 14-16 record and attendance slipped to 162,430, averaged 10,829 per game in 15 dates. 

There were a lot of the same players and others worth mentioning include Gordon Dallas, Bob Bolitho, Steve Wegerle, Ricardo Villa, Thomas Rongen and Bruce Miller.

Hudson transitioned to coaching by managing the Miami Fusion, a former MLS team that played in the league from 1998-2001. Rongen has also had many coaching stops after his post Strikers career.

That was then and now into the present.

In March 2020, Hudson was named a color commentator of Inter-Miami. He’s the lead color commentator for the club. Rongen is a radio commentator for the club.

As I did my pre-game preparation for this game, I decided to start by comparing the Social Media for both Broward County Teams, Inter-Miami and the Florida Panthers.

What I saw was tremendously surprising.

I looked at both teams Twitter and Instagram Accounts.

On Twitter, Inter-Miami was following 227 and had 168,000 followers. On Instagram, Inter-Miami was following 119 and had 1,000,000 followers for a total of 1,168,200.

As for the Panthers there Twitter numbers are as follows: they’re following 1,222 and have 416,000 followers. On Instagram, they’re following 72 and have 305,000 followers for a combined total of 721,000.

Inter-Miami, which was founded on 1-28-2018 and played it’s first MLS Game on March 1,2020 has 447,100 more followers than the Panthers, which were founded in 1993. 

What do all these numbers prove? 

The most important thing is that soccer definitely is considered one of the most popular sports in the world. 

That’s evidenced by this comparison.

The Panthers haven’t won a playoff series since 1996, as the team has been dominant all-season long finishing with a 58-18-6 record and 122 points. Florida won its first President’s Cup Trophy by having the best record during the regular season. 

The Panthers quest for it’s first Stanley Cup Championship is a first round meeting with the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 7:30 PM in Sunrise, FL.

Normally when I see Miami face Atlanta, it’s the Braves vs the Marlins. 

Ironically, the Marlins played the Braves this weekend.

Today, Inter-Miami hosted Atlanta United. 

During their series history, Atlanta United and Inter Miami have played each other remarkably even. The all-time record is split, both sides winning twice and playing to a draw three times. All seven meetings have been either draws or decided by one goal. And in those seen meetings, both teams have scored and conceded seven times.

Going into this matchup, the two clubs are on opposite ends of the Eastern Conference table. Atlanta United is 3-2-2 going into the match with 11 points. Meanwhile, Inter-Miami is 2-4-1 with seven points.

Miami is in the middle of a hot streak. After losing four in a row earlier this season, Inter-Miami picked up six points in back-to-back wins over Seattle and New England. They added a win over Miami FC in the U.S. Open Cup, giving Miami three wins over the last two weeks.

This game was televised on National Television on ESPN and didn’t disappoint as Inter-Miami overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat Atlanta 2-1 in front of 13,433 fans.

This turned out to be another one goal contest as these teams continue to play close matches.

Leonardo Campana and Bryce Duke scored the goals for the home team as it improved its record to 3-4-1. Atlanta dropped to 3-3-2.

Heineken Man of the Match Campana now has five goals and two assists in the last four games, while Duke scored his first goal in MLS and for Inter-Miami.

After the match, as you’re going to see in the video inserted into this story, I asked Coach Phil Neville how important was it for his squad to win on National TV to gain the respect of the league.

Going into the match, Neville has patiently navigated through the team’s early existence. 

Not counting this game, in 42 contests, Neville’s team has 15 wins, six draws and 21 losses. 

Yet, during this process, he has a lot of respect from his players, who continually battle through the growing pains to reach contending status.

Inter-Miami took it’s four-game winning streak to New England and faced the Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. In the first matchup in April, Inter-Miami defeated New England 3-2.

In this contest, New England ended Inter-Miami’s four-game winning streak with a 2-0 triumph. The loss dropped Inter-Miami to 3-5-1 and the squad is 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Inter-Miami will continue their East Coast swing by traveling to North Carolina and face Charlotte at Bank of America on Saturday, May 7th at 3:30 ET.

A prime-time home match awaits Inter-Miami on Saturday, May 14 as D.C. United comes to town. 

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see where the team stands at that point. 

But the rest of the nation saw a squad that was poised to send to the rest of the nation that there are better days ahead.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

You can also see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no cost.

Hurricanes Return To Broward County

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

One of My All-Time movies was Back to the Future. 

On Saturday, April 16 at DRV-PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, I made a return to the site that was once Lockhart Stadium to cover a Miami Hurricanes Spring Football Game.

When I covered the Miami Hurricanes from 1982-83, the head coach was Howard Schnellenberger and the Sports Information Director was Ron Steiner.

Ron was one of the best Public Relations professionals that I’ve ever dealt with!

I would later work with Coach Schnellenberger at Florida Atlantic University as he built this program from scratch. We had a father-son relationship.

In my return to the new venue located West of I-95, off Commercial Blvd and Powerline Rd, this day seemed like old times but the individuals were different.

The Hurricanes Head Coach is Mario Cristobal, who was hired this off-season from the University of Oregon. 

Cristobal previously coached at Florida International University and his star wide receiver was TY Hilton.

My PR contact is Camron Ghorbi and I’m looking forward to working with him this season!

When you cover a Spring Football Game, what do you get out of them?

1. It’s a first class guessing game as to who will play in the fall.

2. There will be a lot of game film between now and August.

3. In the case of this year’s Hurricanes, it’s a chance to see the new coaching staff in action. One of the biggest hires of this off-season is the addition of former University of Michigan Offensive Coordinator Josh Gattis, who is in charge of leading the Canes offense.

4. For myself, this was the first time that I’ve been at DRV-PNK Stadium and being here brought back many memories of covering the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the North American Soccer League, and later the FAU Owls at Lockhart Stadium.

5. One of the writers came up with an interesting line called “A Very Impressive Zero.”

6. It’s always interesting to see the QB Battles and in this case, Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia were taking the snaps under center.

In this Spring Game, there were 13 series for a total of 120 plays, averaging 4.4 yards per play. Five QB’s saw action.

Van Dyke finished 20 of 33 for 175 yards and a touchdown while adding 22 yards on two carries. He guided the Hurricanes to three touchdown drives in his five series.

Garcia was 14 of 24 for 117 yards.

Running back Henry Parrish scored two of the Hurricanes four touchdowns on the day and showed very good burst carrying the ball and catching as his 21-yard run off the right tackle was the longest run of the day and his 16-yard reception was the seventh longest. Parrish finished 38 yards on eight carries and caught three passes for 32 yards.

Wide receiver Xavier Restrepo led all players in receptions with six and receiving yards with 60.

Cornerback Te Cory Couch had a nice pass breakup on a pass by Garcia over the middle of the field and came up with a tackle for a loss on a reverse by Brashard Smith to highlight his solid day. After the Spring Game, Defensive Coordinator Kevin Steele said he was “pleasantly surprised “ by Couch’s performance.

Defensive end Cyrus Moss came up with a strong performance by recording a team-high three sacks and one resulted in a forced fumble.

The offense defeated the defense 31-27. 

During the beginning of the game, I had the opportunity to talk about the Hurricanes Program in Oakland, CA, click on the link to listen to the show. 

I spoke with Mark Mancini and Bruce Kessinger and the main topics discussed were some of the previous Hurricanes Coaches, namely, Randy Shannon, Manny Diaz and Mark Richt.

We talked about the addition of Cristobal and I told these guys that he left a cushy job in Oregon to return to his hometown. 

I addressed his accomplishments at FIU. You’ll enjoy this live broadcast that also talks about My return to Fort Lauderdale covering this game.

After the game, Cristobal addressed the Media and you can watch that video in this story as well.

So now, it’s time to let the evaluation of the current players begin and the incoming freshman will be here late in the summer.

Cristobal inherits a 7-5 team and former Coach Manny Diaz has moved on to Penn State University as he has a dual role as the Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach.

Cristobal has worked under Butch Davis, Greg Schiano, Larry Coker and Nick Saban.

His overall college record is 62-60. He’s 3-3 in Bowl Games.

He guided FIU to a pair of Bowl Games and defeated Toledo 34-32 in 2010 at the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit. 

In three seasons at Oregon from 2017-2021, he was 35-13 (.729) and 23-9 (.719) in the PAC 12. 

But once again, it was great being back in Fort Lauderdale covering the first college football team as a sports writer and am hoping to build on this in 2022. 

Back to the Past turned into Back to the Future. 

The estimated crowd was about 8,000 for an 18,000 seat stadium. This was not bad in the Hurricanes Return To Broward County.

The game was supposed to be scheduled at Hard Rock Stadium but was switched to Fort Lauderdale on short notice because there was construction taking place building a race track for a Formula One Race.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth.

Also, Subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel to see all of his broadcasts or you can find all of his shows on our website under the WSFT Drop Down Box. 

Easter At loanDepot park

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

What were you doing for Easter?

This is one of the most interesting holidays since it floats every year so I never know what my agenda turns out to be.

I’ve had some interesting Easter Sports Adventures through the years.

I covered a Florida Panthers Hockey Game at the Fla Live Arena. 

When Easter occurred during Spring Training, I saw the Boston Red Sox host the Philadelphia Phillies at Jet Blue Park which is known as Fenway South. This was the last season for legendary for Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was selected into this year’s Hall of Fame Class.

Since my family is dwindling and others are out of state, the timing worked out well to see another baseball game and this one is at loanDepot park in Miami.

Who were the Miami Marlins hosting? 

You guessed it. The Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies (4-5) lineup is stacked. The Marlins (3-5) sent Elieser Hernandez to the hill and he faced the likes of J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Jean Segura and Didi Gregorius.

Phillies Manager Joe Girardi and Marlins Skipper had a chance to play Chess with one another.

Going into this game, when you look at the Marlins in 2022, the Fish opened the season on the West Coast by facing the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Angels. During this five-game stretch, the Marlins finished with a 1-4 record, and four of the contests were decided by one run.

When the Fish returned to South Florida, they faced the free-spending Phillies and went 3-1 during their opening weekend.

When the Phillies leave town, their Spring Training Neighbors come to town, The St. Louis Cardinals. 

To date, the Giants, Angels and Cardinals all have winning records.

The schedule makers didn’t do the Marlins any favors but this stretch has provided Mattingly with a good gauge about hits ball club.

During the pre-game Media Availability with the manager, I had the opportunity to ask the team’s pilot that the schedule makers didn’t do the team any favors, the addition of Hitting Coach Marcus Thames and whether there are too many division games.

My colleagues also asked some interesting questions as well and we hope you enjoy the context of the video which is on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

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The Marlins clubbed the Phillies 11-3 as Elieser Hernandez pitched six strong innings, yielding five hits and gave up just one run while throwing 91 pitches. The run Hernandez allowed was a solo blast from NL MVP Bryce Harper.

Jazz Chisholm Jr tripled, doubled and drove in three runs and the Marlins roughed up Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler who saw his record drop to 0-2. Wheeler, the 2021 NL Cy Young Award runner-up allowed seven runs and eight hits, struck out three, walked three and a hit batter.

Jesus Sanchez had three hits and two RBIs while Brian Anderson reached base four times on two walks, a single and hit by a pitch. Sanchez went 7 for 15 in the series with two triples, two doubles and five RBI.

The Marlins took control of the game with a four-run second inning as this frame was highlighted by run scoring triples from Chisholm and Miguel Rojas. Bryan De La Cruz and Sanchez hit RBI singles that scored Chisholm and Rojas.

For the contest, Marlins hitters pounded 13 hits and 12 men were left on base. The attendance for Easter Sunday was 11,476 in a contest that took 3:32 to complete. The Phillies left town with a 4-6 record.

A good first opening weekend for Miami (4-5) as St. Louis concludes the seven-game home stand that ends on Thursday. 

The World Champions Atlanta Braves await Miami in Georgia during the weekend.

As I said, the schedule makers didn’t do the Marlins any favors, but in the eyes of Mattingly, he doesn’t worry about the schedule, just getting his team ready to play these games one at a time. There is no doubt that you’re going to enjoy the video in this story.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can follow him on Twitter @TribuneSouth. 

Once again, Subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel to see all of his shows which include 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk, Inside the Pigskin, Sports Exchange, South Florida Tribune Podcast and much more. 

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Post April Fools Hangover

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH 

April Fools Day was on Friday, April 1, 2022.

But you could have fooled me as I thought it was on Saturday, April 2.

The day began with the South Florida Tribune Podcast that was being streamed live on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, via Stream Yard. I was doing a show with co-host Gary Kornbluh and the show was progressing quite nicely.

But all of a sudden, I went off the air because apparently a motor vehicle in my area hit a pole and Internet and Cable Service was disconnected. The problem would last until 10 PM.

Of all days for this to happen, it made it difficult for us to watch the NCAA Final Four from New Orleans. We did manage to see the final 10 minutes of the Duke vs North Carolina contest. North Carolina defeated Duke 81-77 ending the storied career of Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

We did reschedule the South Florida Tribune Podcast for Thursday, April 7 at 7 PM.

The only thing that went as planned was My Radio Appearance with Bruce Kessenger and Mark Mancini on Saturday Sports Talk out of Oakland, CA. I phoned in and appeared on the show from 11:45-12:30 PM.

The final obligation of the day was the Miami Marlins hosting the Washington Nationals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium at 6:40 PM.

My photographer and I arrived at the stadium at 3:15 pm and took care of all the pre-game work.

But Mother Nature was in a bad mood and the scheduled game was rained out. 

The bright side was we wouldn’t have to worry about driving home late at night especially in bad weather. 

On the other hand, there was the Final Four Dilemma with the desire to go to a Sports Bar and watch the conclusion of one game (Villanova vs Kansas) and the Duke vs North Carolina contest.

Once we got into the Sports Bar, I started having headaches due to my concussion issues. We left and went back home. Because of my concussions, I still have a huge problem when it comes to excessive noise. The decision was made for us. 

We could only hope there would be a chance to see part of the game. That proved to be the case otherwise, I was so tired, it didn’t matter. Getting some sleep isn’t the worst option.

But I have to admit that I was glad the Post April Fools Day was over and I’m glad this day ended. 

I realize some days are better than others, but on a day like this, it couldn’t end soon enough!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts by Subscribing for free on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Spring Training Focus, Sandy Alcantara

 BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Miami Marlins announced prior to their Spring Training game vs the Washington Nationals that Sandy Alcantara will be the Opening Day Starter for the third consecutive season.

In 2021, Alcantara posted a 9-15 record with a 3.19 ERA in 33 games, 33 games started with a 205.2 innings pitched, 201 strikeouts, 50 walks and one complete game.

When you talk about velocity, the 2019 All-Star throws 93-98 MPH and maxes out around 100 MPH. He uses both a four-seam fastball and a sinker. His secondary pitches are a change-up (89 MPH) slider (86 MPH) and curveball (82 MPH).

The 6-5, 200 pound right-handed hurler got some job security during the off-season as the Marlins signed Alcantara to a contract extension worth $56 Million. His contract broke the record for a pitcher under team control with less than four years service time set by Carlos Martinez.

The 2022 season will experience a lot of changes. 

But two changes that effect pitchers the most include Spring Training which was shortened to three weeks and the implementation of the Universal Designated Hitter. 

During the Marlins pregame availability, I had the opportunity to ask Alcantara about both of these developments.

The Marlins Game vs the Nationals was rained out.

The Marlins final Spring Training Game is against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, April 5 at 11:05 AM.

They’ll head out West for Opening Day as they face the San Francisco Giants on Friday, April 8 at 4:35 PM.

They’ll face the Giants for three games then travel to Anaheim and face the LA Angels for a pair of inter league games on Monday April 11 and Tuesday April 12.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Bryce Harper visit Loan Depot Park for Opening Day on Thursday, April 14 and conclude the four-game series on Sunday, April 17.

Former Marlin Lewis Brinson was designated for assignment by the Houston Astros Saturday. In parts of five seasons in the majors, Brinson has a .199 average.

Scott Morganroth can be at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can watch his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no charge.