When the Pittsburgh Pirates set sail into Land Shark Stadium there was an ominous cloud that followed their dark ship into South Florida. That cloud was one of fateful demise for the Florida Marlins as the Pirates had stunted and cursed their 11-1 start early on in the season. It was August 20th through the 22nd when the Fish rolled into PNC Park and suffered their first series sweep. From thereon out they lost seven games in a row and their 11-1 start quickly reverted into a mediocre 11-8 record. After that, the Fish dipped below .500 for what seemed like an eternity.
It was not until the recent series against the Baltimore Orioles that the Fish were a sub-.500 team. Now just one week away from the All-Star break, the Marlins are one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the N.L. East lead and two games behind the San Francisco Giants for the Wild Card spot.
The pirate curse did not faze them this time around and instead they will use their continued success to try and gain ground against the Giants tonight.
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On another note, Marlins fans should be proud to have two of their own players compete in the All-Star game next week: Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson. Hanley has been to the All-Star game every season since joining the Fish and Josh is entering his first ever All-Star game. It's sad to see Dan Uggla miss out on another consecutive All-Star showing, but he has not lived up to his expectations thus far this season. Let's hope the second half is a fresh start for Danny and a continued growth for the team in general.
1 comment:
Lets see if the NL finally beats the AL! Also, if the Fish keep on being consistent in games, they can easily be on top of the division; Mets have too many injuries, Phillies are just not the dominant team like last year and we just have to play some great 2nd half baseball.
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