Fourteen games are on the Friday card, as the Cubs and Reds enjoy a rare Friday off. The rest of the league is in action with a bunch of heavy favorites across both the NL and the AL. Our one interleague matchup also features big chalk. It’s that time of year and September will be worse, at least in the games that aren’t between contenders.
Let’s see what the Friday card has in store.
Marlins/Phillies: The Marlins only mustered three runs once again, but Edward Cabrera and the bullpen combined on a seven-hit shutout to beat the Phillies. Cabrera struck out six over 5.2 innings. The Marlins have some strong pitcher development, but they just can’t figure out how to develop hitters. If they ever did, they’d be a lot more dangerous in the loaded NL East. Not much to write home about in this game, other than a complete lack of quality contact from the Phillies.
Cardinals/Rockies: Another hot-weather over in Coors, as the Rockies won 8-6 behind six respectable innings from German Marquez. All the runs came late in this game, as the Cardinals bullpen surrendered six runs in the seventh and the Rockies pen made it very interesting in the eighth and ninth. Alex Colome has been unusable for the last two weeks, but Bud Black keeps throwing him out there. More on managers in a minute, but Cardinals won hard-hit balls 12-6 and still found a way to lose the game.