Miami Hurricanes October Reality Check

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When you’re a Power Five School and have a history of winning like the Miami Hurricanes, when you’re winning, all it takes are some key wins to get National Championship consideration. 

The month of September saw the Miami Hurricanes defeat Miami (Ohio), Texas A&M, Bethune Cookman, and Temple. The Hurricanes were ranked as high as No.17 in the polls. The Hurricanes offense scored 38, 48, 48 and 41 points respectively during that stretch.

Their next opponent Georgia Tech on October 7, was coming off a 38-27 loss to the Bowling Green Falcons. So as conventional wisdom would lead you to think, this was a Miami rout waiting to happen.

But that’s why you play the games.

When you look at the game offensively, Miami led in total yards 453-250.

As I watched the contest, I was surprised that the Canes only led 3-0 at halftime. Where was this high-powered offense that could potentially produce future NFL players?

The one thing that will kill any team is turnovers as Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke completed 24/36 for 288 yards, one touchdown and tossed three interceptions. 

The Hurricanes also lost two fumbles including a play that will be talked about for years to come. In the waning seconds of the contest, with Georgia Tech out of timeouts, all Miami had to do was kneel down in victory formation and the Canes would improve to 5-0. Instead, Coach Mario Cristobal elected to run the ball and Donald Chaney, who had 24 carries for 106 yards with a 4.4 average fumbled the ball and Georgia Tech took over. 

The Yellow Jackets put together the miraculous winning drive of four plays, 74 yards in 25 seconds to win the game 23-20. The winning touchdown came when Georgia Tech QB Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown pass Christian Leary.

This was a contest that saw Miami dominate in first downs 23-13 and Yellow Jackets QB King was 12/25 for 151 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Hurricanes self destructed as they were penalized six times for 80 yards. Miami led in Time of Possession 35:24-24:34.

Going into the game, Miami was a 19.5 point favorite and the over/under was 56.5. But that’s not the performance the crowd of 58,045 witnessed.

Instead, the fans saw a team lose because of a coaches gaffe and this loss saw Miami drop from 17-25 in the National Rankings. A day later, Cristobal owned his mistake that he should have had two kneel downs in victory formation. Unfortunately for Cristobal, this same mistake occurred when he was coaching at the University of Oregon.

This blunder was talked about during the following week in the National Media knowing full well that this loss took the Canes out of National Championship consideration and cost the programs millions of dollars in the process where they’re College Football Playoff aspirations took a hit.

After the game, I was in sponge mode and decided to let my colleagues ask the questions to the select players and Cristobal. All five videos totaled about 11 minutes combined. What was there to say about a heart-breaking loss that will be talked about for years?

I appeared on a couple of podcasts that week and I told the audience that the crowd was stunned, in addition to members of the media. 

But now the question would be, how would the Miami Hurricanes respond the following week in Chapel Hill, to face the No.12 North Carolina Tar Heels?

The Hurricanes held their own in the first half by taking a 17-14 lead into the locker room at halftime. But the third quarter was the difference in the ballgame as North Carolina scored 21 unanswered points to take a 35-17 lead and proceeded to win the game 41-31.

Van Dyke went 31/48 for 391 yards, had four touchdowns and two interceptions. Henry Parrish led the Canes in rushing with 13 carries for 73 yards while Xavier Resptrepo had 11 receptions for 96 yards and two touchdowns. In the Georgia Tech game, Restrepo had 12 receptions for 123 yards.

The key final number vs North Carolina are as follows: 

*Miami led in first downs, 28-24.

*North Carolina dominated in rushing 235-91.

*Miami led with passing yards 391-273.

*North Carolina led in total yards 508-482.

*Interceptions, Miami had two and North Carolina had zero.

*Penalties, North Carolina 14/147 and Miami had 7/60.

*Time of Possession, 30:04-29:56.

The Hurricanes loss dropped them to 4-2 and they head into tonight’s must win home contest vs the Clemson Tigers (4-2). Miami needs this win in the worst way as it wants to regain some national respect in an attempt to make it to a higher tier bowl game.

At the Georgia Tech Game, there were representatives from the Baltimore Ravens, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, three from the New York Giants. From a Bowl standpoint, there was a representative from the Senior, two from the Pop Tarts and one from the Tax Slayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.

I’ll be curious to see who comes out tonight at Hard Rock Stadium as game time is 8 PM.

But as I’ve mentioned, this is a must win for the Hurricanes against a program that has been a national power under coach Dabo Swinney. 

We have videos in this story and encourage you to watch them.

It was a tough night, but heart-breaking losses are a part of all sports even though they sting the most at times like this.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can find him on Twitter @TribuneSouth and see his broadcasts by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Tale Of Two Games

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When the Miami Hurricanes defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 48-33, on Saturday, September 9 at Hard Rock Stadium, the Canes sent a message to the college football world.

Coach Mario Cristobal earned a signature victory in his second season and Miami will be a force to be in reckoned with during the 2023 campaign.

Miami had a quick turnaround as it faced visiting Bethune Cookman on Thursday, September 14 at Hard Rock Stadium. 

When you go into a game that figures to be lopsided, how do you prepare for it?

The only way that Miami could and jump out to an early lead and hope the lead is big enough so you can rest your regulars without the risk of injury.

When these two teams met on September 3, 2022, Miami thrashed Bethune Cookman 70-13. During the week, I wondered if Miami would score 80 points. But that wasn’t the case.

The only thing this game had in common with the Texas A&M game was the amount of points that Miami pinned on the visiting Wildcats and that was 48. Miami mauled the Wildcats 48-7. By the end of the first quarter, the Canes led 14-0 and led 34-0 at halftime.

Tyler Van Dyke had another fine game as he went 19/23 for 247 yards and passed for two touchdowns. When the game is a rout, it’s a good opportunity to use the backup quarterback and Emory Williams went 9/11 for 102 yards.

On the ground, Donald Chaney had seven carries for 73 yards, Ajhay Allen amassed 12 carries for 68 yards and Henry Parrish added seven carries for 52 yards. Chris Johnson had seven carries for 40 yards. The Hurricanes ground attack was definitely balanced.

Xavier Restrepo led all Miami receivers with six receptions for 120 yards. Brashard Smith added three catches for 55 yards, Colbie Young had five catches for 55 yards and Jacolby George had five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.

From a team standpoint, the Hurricanes out gained Bethune Cookman 589-165. Miami’s time of possession was 35-02-24:58. The Canes had 32 first downs and the Wildcats had eight.

When the contest was over, the Canes were glad to finish 3-0 in their first three contests at home, 3-0. Cristobal and the players available to us knew they took care of business at home as you’re going to find out in the videos included in this story.

As I mentioned, Cristobal had an opportunity to see more players which could come in handy as Miami sizes up its depth.

Miami was also looking forward to hitting the road the following week by going to Philadelphia for a road contest versus the Temple Owls.

With what many would call a mini bye-week since the Bethune Cookman was played on a Thursday, Miami cruised to a 41-7 win over Temple. 

The offensive leaders for Miami included Van Dyke who went 17/24 for 220 yards, Parrish had 16 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Restrepo caught seven passes for 41 yards and two touchdowns.

In the month of September, Miami scored 38, 48,48 and 41 points and finishing the month 4-0.

The schedule worked out for Miami and myself. The following week, Miami had a bye and I had surgery as well as both of us would get ready as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bring a 2-3 record to town.

This game is at 8 PM on the ACC Network and another victory gets the Hurricanes closer to Bowl Eligibility.

The Month of October after Georgia Tech has three TBD’s, To Be Determined on the game times but you can rest assure that playing at North Carolina, hosting Clemson and Virginia will tell us a lot of how the Canes have progressed in as I mentioned before, the second year of Cristobal.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and to see his broadcasts, there is no cost to Subscribe to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.

Sunday’s At The Ballpark

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

It’s hard to believe that in my 40 years of covering MLB that I’ve only covered two opening day games. One was the last game ever when the Detroit Tigers closed down their iconic stadium and the other occurred when they faced the Marlins at LoanDepot Park.

Meanwhile, I’ve covered my fair share of home finales.

The most memorable one was on Sunday, September 29, 2013. Henderson Alvarez threw the 282nd no-hitter in MLB History, in a game against the Detroit Tigers in a 1-0 win. He became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter on the final game of the regular season since Mike Witt in 1984, when he did it for the California Angels.

This was the first and only no-hitter that I’ve ever seen in person.

These days, I spend a lot of time doing shows, therefore, the only times I can get to the ballpark is mainly on weekends. Every now and then, if it’s an afternoon game during the week, I’ll come to the ballpark.

I’ve seen a lot of interesting games, and performances on Sundays. 

There are too many to mention at the moment. But every now and then, there is a game worth mentioning.

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On Sunday, August 13, 2023, the Marlins had a day they’ll never forget versus the New York Yankees. 

Yankees starter Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings, yielded two runs and struck out six.

What happened in the ninth inning was extremely climactic as the Yankees bullpen imploded and give up five runs enabling Miami to come a way with an incredible 8-7 victory in front of a record crowd of 35,043 fans. Jake Burger’s game-ending single capped the incredible epic ending. Burger had three hits in the contest.

Yankees reliever Clay Holmes gave up the five runs and in 0.1 innings and saw his record drop to 4-3.

Marlins rookie starter Eury Perez gave up four runs in four innings, but managed to escape with a no-decision.

Jorge Lopez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to improve his record to 6-2. Since this game, the Marlins released Lopez and he’s a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

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On September 17, 2023, the Miami Marlins were looking to sweep their NL East Division nemesis, Atlanta Braves. The Marlins needed these games in order to stay in the NL Wild-Card Hunt.

In nine of their last 10 games versus the Braves, Atlanta outscored Miami 83-29. Would there be more of the same during the weekend series which occurred from September 15-17?

No. 

The Marlins swept this series and out scored Atlanta 36-11. It was a much needed sweep for the Marlins.

But the game that had the most fireworks occurred on Sunday, September 17th, the one that I attended. 

The Marlins slammed the Braves 16-2 and amassed 17 hits and left 10 men on base. 

The offensive barrage came from a lot of different sources, but the big blast of the day was from center-fielder Jazz Chisholm. He hit a grand slam home run and hit one the day before in Miami’s 11-5 win over the Braves, thus becoming the first player in club history to hit one in consecutive days. This led to a five-run fourth inning. Chisholm also had three walks.

In the Saturday game, he also stole three bases to go along with the grand slam, and as a result, was the second player in MLB History to do that.

What else would we see during the 16-2 rout?

The Marlins chased Braves starter Charlie Morton with six runs and six hits in 4.2 innings as he dropped to 14-12.

Miami’s power surge included home runs by Jorge Solar, Jake Burger and Nick Fortes. Luis Arraez also added three hits.

This run support was all Jesus Luzardo needed to improve his record to 10-9 as he struck out eight in six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and walking two. Catcher Jacob Stallings pitched the final inning and didn’t allow a run.

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On Sunday, September 24, the ducks lined up for a memorable afternoon as Miami hosted the Milwaukee Brewers. To this point, the teams split the first two games. 

The Brewers crushed the Marlins 16-1 on Friday Night and clinched a playoff berth. On Saturday, the Marlins stayed in wild-card hunt and prevented the Brewers from clinching the NL Central by taking a 5-4  decision. Miami improved its record to 80-75. 

While Milwaukee didn’t get the win, Carlos Santana hit the 300th homer of his career and former Marlin Christian Yellich had career hit 1,500 for Milwaukee.

This has set the stage for another interesting Sunday memory.

If the Marlins win this contest, they would be assured of not having a losing season under first year manager Skip Schumaker. Meanwhile, a win for the Brewers would enable them to clinch the NL Central Division.

In a game that took 2:46 minutes, the Marlins reached the 81 win mark by defeating the Milwaukee Brewers and won the series 2-1. A crowd of 17,538 were on hand for Fan Appreciation Day.

The Marlins roughed up Brewers starter and loser Freddy Peralta for four runs and nine hits in three innings. Reliever Julio Teheran gave up a pair of runs in three innings. The Marlins amassed 17 hits during the afternoon.

Luis Arraez took the day off but the Marlins didn’t miss a beat at second base as rookie Xavier Edwards amassed three hits and stole two bases. It was the first three hit career game in his career. 

The Marlins had three home runs in the contest as Josh Bell had one while Jon Berti had two. It was Berti’s second career multi-home run game of his career with the first one occurring on May 4, 2022 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott struck out the side in the 9th inning becoming the second reliever in Marlins history to reach 100 strikeouts in a single season. He is the first left-handed pitcher reach that feat. He joined Kyle Barraclough, (113, 2016) as the only two relievers in Marlins history to have 100 strikeouts in a season.

The Marlins have had their fair share of pitching problems this season.

Cy Young Award Winner Sandy Alcantara is done for 2023. Eury Perez is on the 15 Day IL, Jesus Luzardo has pitched in a career high 171.1 innings as has Braxton Garrett with 155.2. Going into this game, Marlins relievers tossed 98.1 innings in September which is second most in MLB.

On this final Sunday of the regular season, Edward Cabrera pitched five solid innings yielding just one run and five hits, had two walks and five strikeouts as he improved his record to 7-7.

The Marlins finished their 2023 regular season home schedule going 46-35, becoming the 6th team in franchise history to win at least 46 games at home.

The last time the Marlins won more games at home in a regular season was in 2003, when they went 53-28.

As the Brewers division title waits for at least another day, it won’t happen on this Fall Sunday afternoon in South Florida. The Marlins will conclude their regular season with successive road trips at the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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The only disadvantage of covering the Sunday games is because of the early contests, there are no Media Availability with the Manager prior to the game. But as I list game coverage on the game application, there has been no shortage of quality storylines between the lines.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can watch his broadcasts by subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel at no cost. There are a lot of broadcasts to suit a variety of interests.

Miami Hurricane’s First Acts

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Do the first three weeks of a season give you much of an indication of what type of team you are?

In many instances, major programs schedule weaker schools in what figures to be winnable games, plus a large payday for the smaller schools. These paydays enable smaller schools to pump revenue into their athletic department. There are times when the smaller school pulls off an upset.

What have we seen thus far in the opening weeks of the 2023 Season for the Miami Hurricanes?

On September 1, 2023, I felt that I was seeing double when the Hurricanes faced the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. Two Miami schools facing off in the opener.

As I was driving to the game, I actually had vibes that this game would be close since the Redhawks play in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). When you talk about one of the best mid-major conferences in the country, this one is it. Very seldom are teams looking to leave the conference like others are around the conference. The MAC has its own championship game at Ford Field in Detroit.

Any thoughts of this match-up being close were eliminated early as the Canes jumped out to a 16-0 first half lead and never looked back. 

The Hurricanes set the tone early with an impressive first drive that was three plays for 56 yards and lasted 1:25. QB Tyler Van Dyke connected with Colbie Young for a 44-yard touchdown. Young would amass four receptions for 79 yards.

Kicker Andy Borregales added three field goals of 34, 32 and 43 yards to finish the first half.

In the second half, the Hurricanes road to pay dirt was with the running attack. In the third quarter, Mark Fletcher rushed for a 26-yard touchdown. The Hurricanes got a pair of rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter from Henry Parrish for 12-yards and Donald Chaney had a 20-yard scamper.

Parrish led the Miami rushing attack with nine carries for 90 yards.

Van Dyke looked solid by completing 17-22 for 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception as the Canes rolled to a 38-3 win.

There was one major teaching moment and I asked Coach Mario Cristobal about it during the post-game press conference. It occurred when Leonard Taylor committed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty with Miami (Ohio) pinned at its own 4-yard line that moved the ball to the 19-yard line.

You can see that answer in the video inserted in this story.

The numbers don’t lie in this game, as the Hurricanes dominated offensively holding a 493-215 advantage. The Hurricanes out rushed Miami (Ohio) 250-51 and as I mentioned earlier, they had three rushing touchdowns. Defensively, the Canes made life difficult for Redhawks QB Brett Gabbert, sacking his three times.

The Hurricanes entered the game as 16.5 point favorites and they lived up to that prediction to start the season 1-0.

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Eight days later the No.23 Texas A&M Aggies came to town as 3 point favorites and the over-under was 50.5 points. 

In their previous match-up on September 17, 2022, Aggies Coach Jimbo Fisher and his team defeated the Hurricanes at home 17-9. This year, the oddsmakers gave the Hurricanes a 56% chance to win.

Before the game, I paid close attention to ESPN’s College Game Day Crew to gauge what they thought of this early signature contest for the Hurricanes.

Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, Joe Namath and Desmond Howard had the Aggies winning the contest. The senior member of the crew Lee Corso picked the Hurricanes.

The Aggies jumped out to a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Miami’s lone score was a Van Dyke touchdown pass for three yards to Young.

Texas A&M stretched its lead to 17-7 as Amari Daniels rushed for a nine-yard touchdown. But the Hurricanes closed out the first half by scoring 14 unanswered points as Van Dyke hit Isaiah Horton for a 52-yard touchdown with 11:08 left in the quarter. The Hurricanes struck again with 13 seconds left as Van Dyke Jacolby George for an 11-yard touchdown.

Early in the game, the Hurricanes had two major penalties and had a punt blocked. One of those penalties was for unnecessary roughness. Miami had a defensive holding penalty that paved the way for Texas A&M to take a 10-0 lead.

The Aggies got the ball in the second half and at the 9:09 mark, Randy Bond kicked a 28-yard field goal to trim the Canes lead to 21-20.

In the first half, special teams wasn’t the Hurricanes friend as a muffed punt by Davonte Brown at the Miami seven, led to a two plays, nine yard drive that gave the Aggies a 17-7 lead.

Special teams became the Hurricanes friend in the second half as Brashard Smith had an answer for Bond’s field goal by taking the ensuing kick-off 98-yards giving Miami a 28-20 lead at the 8:55 mark. Borregales proceeded to add a 34-yard field field and Miami extended its lead to 31-20 at the 5:42 mark.

The Aggies didn’t quit as they rounded out the scoring in the third quarter as Connor Weigman threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Earnest Crownover to cut the deficit to 31-26. The two point conversion failed.

The Hurricanes poured it on in the fourth quarter as Van Dyke threw for two touchdown passes. Both were to George for three and 64-yards. Borregales added a 50-yard field goal between the pair of touchdowns.

After the game, I asked Xavier Restrepo, who plays offense and special teams what he thought about the overall unit’s performance.

I also asked Van Dyke that with Miami’s 48-33 win, did this win send a message to college football fans that the Hurricanes should be taken seriously in 2023. We also talked about that if this signature victory will enable the Hurricanes draw higher crowds as the season progresses. Miami drew 49,024 vs Miami (Ohio) and 48,792 against Texas A&M.

You can see those videos in this story.

When you break down this contest by the numbers, Texas A&M held the first down advantage 26-16 and led time of possession 32:05-27:55. The Hurricanes led in total yards 451-433 but self destructed by amassing 10 penalties for 115 yards.

Individually, Van Dyke was 21-30-374 yards and five touchdowns. He didn’t throw any interceptions for a passer rating of 229.7.

George had five receptions for 94 yards and three touchdowns.

There was one moment at the 1:58 mark of the fourth quarter that looked worse than it subsequently became. Kam Kinchens was carted off the field due to a serious injury. 

He was taken to the hospital but during the post-game press conference, Cristobal became more upbeat that the injury wasn’t as serious as it looked. The Hurricanes Medical staff did a great job taking precautionary measures as both teams looked at Kinchens with deep concern.

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Cristobal was still excited about the win against a top caliber opponent and going into tonight’s contest against vs Bethune Cookman 1-1), Miami is now ranked 22 in the polls. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what’s expected to occur tonight.

On September 3, 2022, the Hurricanes crushed the Wildcats 70-13 at Hard Rock Stadium.

I’m not expecting much different in this contest. All Miami can hope for is keeping the key players sharp and seeing others get playing time for depth purposes. 

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and you can see his broadcasts on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel. There is no cost to Subscribe.

Florida Hockey Now

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There is one thing that I’ve enjoyed about being in the media for over four decades. The relationships you meet with your colleagues, players, coaches and others is what keeps the fire burning.

I’ve interviewed a lot of my colleagues on different types of broadcasts and the one thing I’ve learned is when we start talking, you’re going to be entertained with tons of stories. The shows are longer because we’re never at a loss of words.

I’ve tried to emphasize to my team on the South Florida Tribune Broadcasting Network that it’s not how many clicks that you get with your videos, but the connections/contacts you make. With this generation, that’s a tough message to convey.

During the Fall, I had South Florida Sentinel University of Miami writer Adam Lichtenstein on Fire Up Florida. He was great! We see each other at Media Days along with Games. I plan on bringing him back this Fall.

A couple of weeks ago, I brought on another colleague that I met during the Covid-19 Season when I covered the Florida Panthers. 

He’s the owner of Florida Hockey Now. 

If you’re looking for a person that knows everything about the Florida Panthers, his name is George Richards. I recently saw him at a pair of Miami Marlins games and invited him to come on Fire Up Florida. George accepted and we had a great time!

The timing was great because even though George said he would gladly come on anytime I needed him, doing a show in August was a No-Brainer. This is the time of the year he had more time and the slow period for news with the Panthers. Things will start to ramp up in September with training camp and the regular season gets going in October.

We talked about the Panthers winning the Presidents Trophy a couple years ago. George told me that he didn’t feel the record for the Panthers would be as good, but they were a playoff team. He had his I told you so moment when we talked.

The Panthers did their talking when they made the playoffs on the last day of the season. Florida benefitted from the goaltending of Sergei Bobrovsky as well as some key offensive performances. Florida upset the Presidents Cup Winner the Boston Bruins to begin its ride to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights.

The thing that stood out to me on our show was when we talked about Lionel Messi joining Inter-Miami and Richards considered MLS Soccer as AA Minor League Soccer. 

As I analyzed what he said, I agreed with him. The MLS is supposed to help groom talent for the USA Men’s National Team for the World Cup. Unfortunately, in the last World Cup, the USA Men’s National team could only muster up four goals and underachieved again.

When you think of how popular soccer is around the world, then it’s easy to see why Richards takes his position. 

In the story, if you’re a Florida Panthers fan, I encourage you to watch Fire Up Florida in its entirety. We go into a lot of depth with the team and this will get you revved up for the 2023-24 Season.

As I said, the NHL Season on the Frozen Pond is just around the corner.

George Richards is just another example that not only do you cover events in the field, but he’s the latest colleague which has turned into a great friend!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com and X, formerly Twitter @TribuneSouth. Also, by subscribing to the South Florida Tribune at no charge, you can see all of his broadcasts.

Yankees Struggles Started In Miami

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When people talk about New York Yankees top rivals, they often refer to the Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Detroit Tigers.

If you’re looking for a Yankees nemesis, pencil in the Miami Marlins.

In 2003, the Marlins defeated the Yankees 4-2 to win its’ second World Series in franchise history. Jack McKeon out managed Yankees skipper Joe Torre.

To date, there have been five Hall of Famers that came out of this Fall Classic. Ivan Rodriguez came from the Marlins while Derek Jeter, Mike Messina, Mariano Rivera and Torre from the Bronx Bombers.

During the Covid-19 Season, the Marlins won key games to reach the post-season under former pilot Don Mattingly.

These two teams squared off again during the weekend of August 11-13 and the Marlins were winners in more ways than one. 

They lost to the Yankees 9-4 on Friday, August 11th.

But the objective of a season is to win series and that’s what the Marlins proceeded to do.

On Saturday, August 12th, Miami saw Sandy Alcantara throw a complete game shutout, yielding just five hits, two walks and amassing 10 strikeouts to defeat the Yankees 3-1. Alcantara improved his record to 5-10. The reigning Cy Young Award winner coaxed 11 groundouts before a season-best crowd of 33,980.

A two-run blast by Luis Arraez in the first inning that went 409 feet against Yankees starter Michael King  bounced off the first row of upper deck seats in right center. This homer was the longest round tripper of his career. King dropped to 3-5. He was lifted after two innings and 41 pitches.

In the rubber match on Sunday, August 13th, the game we saw on paper looked like a game the Yankees should have won. The Yankees were sending right-handed hurler Gerritt Cole (10-3, 2.75) to the hill against fellow right-hander and rookie Eury Perez (5-4, 2.79).

But games aren’t decided on paper. 

Cole did his part and showed why he’s an elite pitcher. 

He hurled six innings, yielded six hits, two runs and struck out six.

Perez had a rocky outing by tossing four innings, gave up four runs, four hits and walked a pair. He also amassed five strikeouts and was replaced by Huascar Brazoban. The Yankees scored a three runs off Brazoban in 2.2 innings and led 7-2 at the end of six innings.

But all-season long, the Marlins have shown no quit in them and that proved to be the case.

Newly acquired Jake Burger’s game ending single capped a five-run, ninth inning comeback against Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle giving the Marlins an incredible 8-7 win. This was the 31st comeback victory of the season for the season. At one point the Marlins trailed 7-1, thus had a six run deficit for the largest comeback of the season. Perez was fortunate enough to get a no-decision.

The Marlins bullpen tamed the Yankees in the latter innings.

AJ Puk worked 1.1 innings and stuck out four while newly acquired Jorge Lopez went one inning to pick up the win improving his record to 6-2.

A crowd of 35,043 was the third highest crowd at LoanDepot Park. The game lasted 3:08 and the Marlins fans got their moneys worth, but can’t say the same for the many Yankees fans in attendance.

In addition, the Marlins were winners at the gate as a total of 100,001 was the largest crowd in Loan Depot Park History in a three-game series. There is no question that when the Yankees come to town, it’s easy to expect large crowds.

The Marlins won the series 2-1 and it would be a tough ride out of town for the Bronx Bombers.

New York proceeded to have an extended losing streak of nine games for the first time in 41 years.

The Atlanta Braves swept them in Georgia with 11-3, 5-0 and 2-0 wins from August 14-16. 

The Boston Red Sox added to the grief with successive 8-1, 6-5, and 2-1 triumphs from August 18-20. 

The Washington Nationals added to the streak as Tommy Kahnle allowed a go-ahead homer to CJ Abrams leading to New York’s nine consecutive defeat. In this contest, the Nationals won for the 13th time in 19 games and got their latest win after Manager Dave Martinez agreed to a new two-year contract.

The grief finally came to an end on Wednesday as the Yankees Aaron Judge homered three times and tied his career high with six RBIs, almost single handedly breaking the Yankees dreadful losing streak by shellacking the Nationals 9-1. 

However, The Nationals got the best of the Yankees by winning 6-5 on Thursday, taking the series 2-1.

This run support made a winner out of Luis Severino as he went 6.2 innings and blanking the Nationals. By the end of the evening, Judge’s homer total reached 27.

As of this post, the Yankees are in last place with a 61-66 record and are in last place in the AL East. Time is running out for the Bronx Bombers.

Meanwhile, Miami (65-63) returns home for a three-game series against the Washington Nationals, who are 59-69. The Marlins are two games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final Wild-Card Playoff spot.

There is no question that this will be a pivotal weekend for the Yankees and Marlins.

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

Marlins vs Tigers Series One To Remember

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

The Miami Marlins should be very thankful that MLB reduced the amount of division games and increased inter-league contests.

If there was ever a series that paid huge dividends, it was when the Detroit Tigers came to Miami for a three-game series vs the Marlins from July 28-30. 

The Marlins promoted this is Miggy Weekend, as they celebrated the return of legend Miguel Cabrera, who was a vital contributor in the Fishs’ 2003 World Series Winning squad.

We attended two of the three games of the series, electing to take Saturday off.

From my standpoint, it was great seeing colleagues from my hometown working for the Tigers as I’ve covered the organization for 40 years. I came to the Marlins during the 2020 Covid-19 Season.

Tigers Radio Play-By-Play Announcer Dan Dickerson, Bally’s Sports On Field Reporter Johnny Kane and former Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe were the primary individuals that I enjoyed reminiscing with.

Former Tigers Broadcaster Rod Allen is a teammate of mine here in Miami and does the Marlins broadcasts for Ballys Sports. There was no doubt that Allen was going to be the color analyst for these three games.

In the past few years, injuries have hampered Cabrera. In Miguel’s final season, he’s been celebrated by all of the opponents and has managed to stay healthy.

Luck was on the Marlins side as Cabrera played in all three contests.

In the Friday game, Cabrera was hit by a pitch and reached by an error by third basemen Jean Segura. 

In Saturday’s contest, he had two hits and scored a run in four at bats.

During the finale on Sunday, Cabrera had one hit and drove in two runs in three at bats, before he was replaced by a pinch runner as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He was replaced by a pinch runner twice in this series and the fans demonstrated their appreciation for the Future Hall of Famer.

The opening game saw the Marlins jump out to a 4-0 lead through three innings off of Tigers starter Reese Olson. The Tigers proceeded to score four unanswered runs and the game was tied at 4-4 until the bottom of the eighth inning.

That’s when the Marlins answered back with a pair off of reliever Jason Foley and took a 6-4 lead into the ninth inning. Detroit answered with a run, but the Tigers came up short as Foley dropped to 2-3. Detroit’s major downfall is it left 10 men on base and lost 6-5.

Akil Baddoo and Riley Greene homered, and five pitchers combined on a seven hitter as the Tigers beat Miami 5-0 on Saturday. Cabrera doubled and singled in four at bats in a game that was promoted as Venezuelan Heritage Day. Cabrera is a native Venezuelan and he didn’t let down his countrymen in front of a crowd of 32,936, the largest crowd for a Marlins game since April of 2017.

A lot of people wondered if Cabrera would take Sunday off. He didn’t let the crowd down by being productive in a Tigers 8-6 loss to the Marlins as I mentioned earlier. Once again, what doomed the Tigers was leaving 10 runners on base.

Before Garrett Cooper was traded to the San Diego Padres, he and Segura homered, newly acquired relievers Jorge Lopez and David Robertson played key roles in Miami’s win. Cooper’s two run shot gave Miami a 7-6 win and drove a 1-2 pitch from Tigers reliever Tyler Horton (0-2) over the left-field wall for his 13th homer of the season. The Marlins increased their lead to 8-6 with Segura’s shot in the eighth inning.

During the weekend, not only did the Marlins win the series, but they won at the gate.

Miami drew successive crowds of 15,918, 32,936 and 18,207 for a total of 67,061.

Before the game, Marlins Manager Skip Schumaker talked about Cabrera’s return and much more during the inserted video.

With Cabrera making this a memorable weekend, there is one last piece of business to be taken care. The Marlins need to make Cabrera the first jersey ever retired by the organization.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com or on Twitter @TribuneSouth. Also, to see his broadcasts, you can find them on the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel and there is no cost to subscribe.