Fish Bytes

Infante: "It was an easy ground ball... I feel terrible."

HOUSTON -- When it comes to sure-handed second baseman, few are better than the Marlins Omar Infante. Tuesday night, Infante finally looked human -- making two errors on the same play during a costly sequence in the sixth inning.

Infante said afterward it's the first time in his career he's made two errors on the same play.

“It was an easy ground ball,” Infante said. “When I didn't catch it, I hurried up the throw. I don't know where I threw it. I just feel bad because Anibal [Sanchez] pitched a great game. I feel sad for Anibal. I feel terrible.”

The Marlins (15-15) came in having made 20 errors in their first 29 games, tied for 11th worst among all major league teams. But the two Infante was charged with Tuesday were killer.

Until then, Sanchez looked like he was inline to pick up his third win of the season. Instead, he settled for a no decision despite striking out eight and giving up just five hits to go with his two unearned runs. Sanchez (2-0) still lowered his ERA to 2.01 on the season. His 46 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings now lead the National League.

Afterward, Sanchez was supportive of his teammate. On the way out of the clubhouse, Sanchez tapped Infante on the rear-end as told him "let it go" in Spanish.

“That's part of the game,” Sanchez said of Infante’s errors. “I don't have any concern about it. He's one of the best second baseman in the game, has the best hands in the major leagues. He's not perfect. I know he didn't want to make any mistakes -- especially in that situation. I'm going to support him.”

POSTGAME AUDIO

 

OZZIE GUILLEN

ANIBAL SANCHEZ

OMAR INFANTE

 

Buck: JJ's slider lacks consistent sharpness

HOUSTON -- With a pitching staff that's posted the sixth lowest ERA in baseball, Marlins catcher John Buck has been having a pretty good time behind the plate this season.

Buck, though, would like for his buddy Josh Johnson to join in the fun, too.

After missing the final four months of the 2011 season with shoulder issues, the two-time All-Star and opening day starter hasn't had much of it. He's gone 0-3 with a horrific 6.61 ERA (which going into Tuesday's game in Houston ranked 109th out of 113 major leaguers with at least five starts).

Wednesday night, Johnson will head back to the mound against the Astros at Minute Paid Park hoping to pick up his first win since he beat the Pirates at Sun Life Stadium on April 19, 2011.

Johnson reiterated Tuesday health isn't an issue. His catcher backs him up on that.

"He's not the type of guy to sugar coat it. If he felt off, he'd say he feels off," Buck said.

Where Johnson is having issues, Buck said, is in "the sharpness of his pitches." Buck said the lack of success Johnson has had with his go-to pitch -- his slider -- has affected him the most.

"That sharpness that makes people swing and miss, or they know it's coming and look for it and they still can't hit it -- it just hasn't had that," Buck said. "If they see it they can put it in play, they're able to battle it off and stay alive and wait for him to make a mistake later in the sequence. That's the difference."

Buck said while Johnson has shown effectiveness with his pitches at times, he's had trouble "repeating his delivery... so he gets the same production out of that pitch."

Buck maintains Johnson's velocity "is pretty much there," but the consistency just isn't.

According to FanGraphs.com, which charts pitches and speed, Johnson has used his fastball just 56.4 percent of the time this season -- 8.5 percent less than his career average. The velocity according to Fangraphs is 92.7 miles per hour -- 1.2 miles per hour than his career average.

Johnson said that what he learned from his last start Friday in San Diego -- which lasted just 2 2/3 innings because gave up a season-high six earned runs -- is that he's "got to keep the ball down."

"Every hit was up," Johnson said. "Just get the ball down... That's a better recipe for success than keeping the ball over the plate."

While the rest of the Marlins starting rotation has shined by going at least six innings in 23 of the team's first 29 games (fourth most in the majors) with a combined ERA of 2.50, Johnson has only made it through six innings in half of his starts.

The fact he's not carrying his own weight frustrates him the most. "Everybody's throwing well and I want to throw well too," Johnson said. "I'm a competitor... it's frustrating."

If there is an encouraging sign for Johnson is that he isn't getting killed. Of the 47 hits he's given up in 31 1/3 innings, only eight have gone for extra bases and none of those hits are home runs.

"It's a game of inches," Johnson said. "If half of those pitches are an inch down or a little more off the corner they're not hits. They're outs. But it's how the game goes."

Marlins bullpen well rested heading into Tuesday's game in Houston

HOUSTON -- After working their butts off in relief of Josh Johnson Friday in San Diego and working overtime to save Heath Bell's rear-end two nights prior to that in San Francisco, the Marlins bullpen has to feel pretty well rested heading into Tuesday night's game at Minute Maid Park.

With Mark Buehrle and Carlos Zambrano tossing complete games two of the last three nights, Marlins relievers have played the role of happy spectator for the most part.

New closer Steve Cishek, who worked a career-high three innings of relief Friday to pick up the win, has had three days off. Edward Mujica has pitched just once over the last four days.

Right-hander Ryan Webb, who along with left-handed specialist Randy Choate and Mujica are the only relievers to work since Saturday, said despite Bell's struggles the bullpen has proven over this 7-0 West Coast trip it can get the job done in some pressure situations.

"That's what you need," Webb said. "That's what's going to count. Our goal is to get to the postseason, and that's going to help in the postseason. That's going to help in a tight race at the end of the year in this tough division.

"We're going to be playing some good teams, but we've got a good team too. So we've played a lot of close games, a lot of good pitching matchups. So to get the experience early is good for a lot of guys, especially for some of the younger guys that we do have, stepping up to do these late-inning roles. We've got guys that can pitch in all those situations. So it gives [manager] Ozzie [Guillen] a lot of options to go to."

Take Bell (0-3, 4 blown saves, 11.42 ERA) and demoted left-hander Mike Dunn out of the mix and the Marlins bullpen would rank much better than sixth in the National League in ERA (3.45 ERA). They also might not rank right behind Colorado for the league-lead with seven blown saves.

Together, Webb, Cishek, Mujica, Choate, and right-hander Chad Gaudin have combined for a 1.81 ERA in 59 2/3 innings with 49 strikeouts and 21 walks. Opponents have hit just .189 off those five in 216 at-bats.

> The Marlins are off to their best May start in franchise history. The previous best start was 5-2, done three times (last, 2008). The Marlins finished that month with a 16-11 record, which tied for the most May wins in Club history (also, 1997 and 1996). The Franchise record for most wins in any month is 19, done in August 1997.

TUESDAY'S LINEUP

> Marlins (15-14): 1. Jose Reyes SS, 2. Emilio Bonifacio CF, 3. Hanley Ramirez 3B, 4. Logan Morrison LF, 5. Omar Infante 2B, 6. Giancarlo Stanton RF, 7. Gaby Sanchez 1B, 8. John Buck C, 9. Anibal Sanchez P.