The Legend Of Joe Smith

I knew there was a reason to go to a Marlins game

Despite a second straight loss to the Fish, there were a few positives to take away from tonight's game. Conversely there were a few negatives as well. Shall we?

Positives:

1. Mike Pelfrey settled in nicely after a shaky 1st inning. His command improved dramatically after he took some speed off his fastball. He went 6.1 solid innings and should have secured himself a few more starts.
2. David Wright began snapping out of his April daze after being moved up to the #2 hole, going 3-4 with his first HR since last July...well first HR of the season.
3. Joe Smith continues to amaze, improving his season-opening scoreless streak to 13 innings after coming in after Pelfrey in the 7th with two runners on base.
4. Carlos Delgado also picked up a couple of hits, going the other way both times and getting himself over the Mendoza line.
   

Negatives:

1. Aaron Heilman gave up a monster shot to the new Pat Burrell - Josh Willingham. Heilman has been erratic and inconsistent all season...If he's hurt, I'm with Metsradamus, put him on the DL.
2. Moises Alou doesn't look good at the plate (although he had another sparkling play in the field) since the shoulder situation on Saturday.
3. The hitting with RISP has been bad all year - .245 to be exact compared to a MLB-leading .287 overall), and it's starting to kill rallies now that the team isn't winning games in blowouts.

Overall it's not quite time to panic. If Pelfrey can be a reliable #5, than the team should be fine until Duque and Valentin get back.

Oliver looks to save the series tomorrow afternoon against Anibal Sanchez. It should be interesting to see if Willie keeps David Wright in the two hole or if he drops him back to fifth...it's more likely that David stays up top, with LoDuca probably getting the day game after the night game off.