By Juan C. Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel –
CHICAGO — His hope is flickering, but not extinguished. Miami Marlins President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest has confidence in this team, that it can put together another May-like stretch. After losing Thursday’s series finale against the Chicago Cubs 4-2, Beinfest admits his optimism is being tested.
“We’re in a tough spot,” Beinfest said. “Believe in your talent and you get hot. I think that’s where we’re at right now. Every day that goes by it gets tougher and tougher to believe that.”
(PHOTO: Miami Marlins second baseman Omar Infante (12) doubles up Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo (44) in the eighth inning on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. )
After taking the opener, the Marlins lost two straight to the Cubs. In those contests they scored three runs, went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 16.
They are now 44-48, 10 games behind the first-place Washington Nationals in the National League East and 6 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the second wild card.
Having lost two of three to the Cubs, the Marlins now head to PNC Park for three games against the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates.
The non-waiver trade deadline is less than two weeks away.
“In terms of decision-making, I don’t know how that’s going to go,” Beinfest said. “I really don’t. We need to win games here just to make sure we’re on the periphery of getting into things. … The reality is every game is now magnified.
“These guys are trying. They’re working hard, just not winning enough games. With the talent we have here, we should win more games than we have, and it hasn’t happened.”
The Marlins would have gone hitless with runners in scoring position in the final two games, had Carlos Lee not advanced to second on defensive indifference and Greg Dobbs knocked him in with a two-out, pinch-hit single in the ninth.
Donovan Solano opened the sixth with a pinch-hit triple off starter Paul Maholm (8-6) and scored on an Emilio Bonifacio RBI-groundout.
The way Mark Buehrle looked, the Marlins were going to need considerably more offense to win this one.
Buehrle began the day having won four consecutive starts with a 0.94 ERA. He’d also completed seven or more innings in each of those outings and five of his last six starts.
The Cubs did all their scoring in Buehrle’s fifth and final inning. Alfonso Soriano opened with a solo homer into the basket in left field. The next three batters all reached via single or walk. Luis Valbuena contributed a sacrifice fly and Reed Johnson plated two more with a single.
“The changeup, I couldn’t throw it for a strike,” Buehrle said.
“I think I threw one good one the whole day. Just one of those games where you’re not going to have your stuff. … I couldn’t locate too much.”
Soriano’s homer, his 150th as a member of the Cubs, was the second Buehrle has served up in his last 34 2/3 innings. Thursday marked just the second time in eight starts Buehrle allowed more than two runs in an outing.
“I’m used to pitching in our park where those balls shouldn’t even be close to going out,” Buehrle said. “Obviously, anytime you play here and the wind is blowing, it feels like the wall is not too far away from you. Every fly ball has a chance to do something.”
The Marlins’ chances of doing something before the July 31 non-waiver deadline would appear to be increasing. Save for a 21-8 May, this team has not shown a capacity for prolonged stretches of winning baseball.
As a result, Marlins players have been regulars on the rumor mill.
“It’s normal this time of year,” Beinfest said. “I think given a club like our club that has a lot of expectations on it, we’ve underperformed, underachieved and in the position we’re in I think it’s normal to hear a lot of things about us.”
