BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
Some managers are pleased when the majority of their West Coasts Trips are completed by the All-Star Break while others don’t make a big deal about it.
When I asked former Marlins Manager Don Mattingly about it last year, he was one of those skippers that was glad that the majority of the West Coast Trips were completed.
Let’s face the facts, the Marlins and the Seattle Mariners will add a lot of frequent flyer miles every year. The question remains, how will these trips be set up?
The Marlins recent road trip took them to the Southside in the Central Time Zone where they had a three game series with the Chicago White Sox from June 9-11. The fish lost the first game 2-1 and proceeded to compile triumphs 5-1 and 6-5.
Miami took on the Seattle Mariners from June 12-14 and had a difficult time in the Pacific Northwest. They lost back to back blowouts by 8-1 and 9-3.
The Marlins averted the sweep on getaway day by defeating the Mariners 4-1 in the Pacific Time Zone.
Miami left Washington State and traveled to Washington DC, the Nations Capital as the Nationals awaited them from June 16-18 in the Eastern Time Zone.
The Marlins earned a three-game sweep as they defeated Washington by 6-5, 5-2 and 4-2, which concluded a trip that saw them go 6-3.
Miami came home to play a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays on June 19 against Mattingly’s current team where he is now the bench coach.
What I saw was a team that was glad that they had a chance to sleep in their own beds and brought out the whooping sticks.
Miami blew out Toronto 11-0, had 19 hits and left 12 runners on base.
But the big story was once again second baseman Luis Arraez as he had a five hit night, going 5-5 at the plate. When I saw him play two weeks ago, he pulled the same trick against the Oakland A’s and did it on the road versus Washington.
He has a franchise record three five hit games and he’s definitely one of the best pure hitters in Baseball.
In my years of covering baseball, Arraez reminds me of Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs, all of whom are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Let’s not forget that Miami is 43-33 under first year manager Skip Schumaker and there is a lot of baseball to be played this summer.
During the pre-game media availability, I asked Schumaker about the West Coast Trips, in addition to the fact that does a team bond together on these trips.
Check out the video as to what the skipper had to say about this as well as other comments.
There was a question that mentioned about Mattingly. (Please Subscribe to The South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel) for Marlins content as well as other remote videos and live streams.
A thrashing only counts as one victory and Miami proceeded to lose the next two versus the Blue Jays. Toronto won the final two games of the series 2-0 and 6-3.
This weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in town for a four game series and are currently 34-40 in the NL Central Division.
Miami won the opener on Thursday Night, 6-4 so we’ll see what happens as the fish work towards a playoff berth.
What’s left the rest of the season for Miami in terms of changing time zones.
The Marlins visit the Texas Rangers from August 4-6 in a three game series.
Miami takes its’ final West Coast trip from August 18-20 as they play three in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers.
If you’re going to end a trip there is no better way to do it than take on the San Diego Padres from August 21-23 for three more contests.
The Marlins will take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park for a four game set from September 11-14.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at [email protected].
Once again, you can see all of his shows by Subscribing to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
