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Hendrickson struggles, Fish fall to Reds

On Monday, with the tying and go ahead runs on base in the 9th, the red hot Dan Uggla was stranded on deck. On Wednesday, he got his chance against against Reds closer Francisco Cordero, representing the tying run. Uggla struck out swinging to end the game and the Marlins dropped a second straight game for the first time since April 30.

Mark Hendrickson got the start and went 5 innings allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. He took the brunt of that damage in the 2nd when he allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks. The Reds brought eight men to the plate in the inning. After failing to make it past the 4th inning his last time out, I think it’s safe to say Hendrickson has come crashing back down to Earth. He’s thrown 202 pitches and has allowed 5 runs on 15 hits in his last 9 frames. He’s allowing more than one hit per inning.

The Marlins had their chances against Edinson Volquez, touching him for a season high 7 hits but the absences of Mike Jacobs and Josh Willingham proved to be costly yet again. Jorge Cantu and Uggla hit back-to-back 1 out singles in the 4th but Volquez was able to pitch out of the jam, getting Luis Gonzalez, who is taking over for the Hammer in left, to fly out and Wes Helms, who is occupying Jacobs’ spot in the lineup, to ground out. The Reds were able to get out of another trouble spot in the 7th after only giving up one run. Alfredo Amezaga led the inning off with a bunt single and came around to score on an Uggla RBI single but, with two outs, Gonzalez grounded into a fielder’s choice. Willingham is a career .309 hitter with two outs and RISP.

Willingham was eligible to come off of the DL Tuesday but he was still experiencing some discomfort in his back. Hammer will probably remain on the injured list and be given a rehab assignment sometime next week so the club can see exactly where he’s at. Jacobs remains day-to-day. During pregame, Fredi Gonzalez said he could have gone today but he just doesn’t feel comfortable starting him until his quad is at 100%.

The Fish will try to at least split this four game series by taking the final two. Two hot starters will go at it on Wednesday. Ricky Nolasco will try to build off of his best start of the year, a 6 inning 1 run outing against the Nationals. Nolasco had great command over his fastball that day, as he struck out a season high 6 and walked just 2. Bronson Arroyo will toe the rubber for the Reds. He, too is coming off of his strongest start of the year, an 8 inning, 1 run game against the Mets. Arroyo had added velocity that night as he struck out a season high 9.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 2:36 am and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.