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Volquez and Reds stymie the Marlins
There are certain pitchers who always seem to befuddle the Florida Marlins.
Jamie Moyer is one. Jason Schmidt, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Livan Hernandez are others. Now comes Edinson Volquez, who is emerging as the latest in the line of Marlins killers.
On Tuesday night, Volquez and the Cincinnati Reds did a job on the Marlins, putting a 7-0 hurting on them in front of a sparse crowd at Dolphin Stadium.
"He made us look pretty bad," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley commented to him during the game that Volquez reminded him of a recent pitching star.
"Wiley said he reminded him of Pedro Martinez when Pedro Martinez was in his heyday," Gonzalez said.
The loss for the Marlins quickly removed the luster from Monday's 14-inning marathon victory, dropped them out of first in the division standings for the first time this season and gave them 11 defeats in their past 15 games.
And Volquez was at the center of the outcome, not surprising considering his brief but successful history against the Marlins. Armed with perhaps the best changeup in the majors, a pitch he throws more than any other, Volquez dominated the Marlins twice last season.
He toyed with them Monday.
The Marlins squeezed out only three hits against the 25-year-old right-hander, who was the key acquisition for the Reds in their trade of outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers.
They came close to lighting up the scoreboard only once, in the fourth inning, when John Baker tried to score from first on Hanley Ramirez's double and was thrown out at the plate.
Otherwise, the tiny crowd didn't have much to cheer about.
"His was about as dominant a performance as we've seen this year," Gonzalez said. "We couldn't get good swings on him all night. He was the guy."
It's not like the Marlins are the only team that has trouble with Volquez. He had given up just one hit in each of his previous two starts, one against the Braves and the other against the Astros.
IMPATIENT HITTERS
The knock on Volquez has been his control. He had walked 21 in 28-1/3 innings heading into Monday.
But the Marlins are not a patient bunch, and they failed to make anything of the four walks Volquez issued to them. When he walked the first two hitters in the seventh, he quickly whiffed Jeremy Hermida and Cody Ross on called third strikes, and got Alfredo Amezaga on a grounder to end the inning.
Volquez went eight innings, striking out seven.
"He had electric stuff," Baker said. "He kept throwing strikes."
It was the second shutout defeat of the season for the Marlins, and it extended to 18 the number of consecutive games without a victory by one of their starters. Chris Volstad became the latest member of the rotation to walk away without a victory.
"I didn't even know that we had a streak going until I saw something about it on ESPN Monday night," Volstad said.
There are certain pitchers who always seem to befuddle the Florida Marlins.
Jamie Moyer is one. Jason Schmidt, Randy Johnson, John Smoltz and Livan Hernandez are others. Now comes Edinson Volquez, who is emerging as the latest in the line of Marlins killers.
On Tuesday night, Volquez and the Cincinnati Reds did a job on the Marlins, putting a 7-0 hurting on them in front of a sparse crowd at Dolphin Stadium.
"He made us look pretty bad," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley commented to him during the game that Volquez reminded him of a recent pitching star.
"Wiley said he reminded him of Pedro Martinez when Pedro Martinez was in his heyday," Gonzalez said.
The loss for the Marlins quickly removed the luster from Monday's 14-inning marathon victory, dropped them out of first in the division standings for the first time this season and gave them 11 defeats in their past 15 games.
And Volquez was at the center of the outcome, not surprising considering his brief but successful history against the Marlins. Armed with perhaps the best changeup in the majors, a pitch he throws more than any other, Volquez dominated the Marlins twice last season.
He toyed with them Monday.
The Marlins squeezed out only three hits against the 25-year-old right-hander, who was the key acquisition for the Reds in their trade of outfielder Josh Hamilton to the Texas Rangers.
They came close to lighting up the scoreboard only once, in the fourth inning, when John Baker tried to score from first on Hanley Ramirez's double and was thrown out at the plate.
Otherwise, the tiny crowd didn't have much to cheer about.
"His was about as dominant a performance as we've seen this year," Gonzalez said. "We couldn't get good swings on him all night. He was the guy."
It's not like the Marlins are the only team that has trouble with Volquez. He had given up just one hit in each of his previous two starts, one against the Braves and the other against the Astros.
IMPATIENT HITTERS
The knock on Volquez has been his control. He had walked 21 in 28-1/3 innings heading into Monday.
But the Marlins are not a patient bunch, and they failed to make anything of the four walks Volquez issued to them. When he walked the first two hitters in the seventh, he quickly whiffed Jeremy Hermida and Cody Ross on called third strikes, and got Alfredo Amezaga on a grounder to end the inning.
Volquez went eight innings, striking out seven.
"He had electric stuff," Baker said. "He kept throwing strikes."
It was the second shutout defeat of the season for the Marlins, and it extended to 18 the number of consecutive games without a victory by one of their starters. Chris Volstad became the latest member of the rotation to walk away without a victory.
"I didn't even know that we had a streak going until I saw something about it on ESPN Monday night," Volstad said.
