Redmond encouraged by road trip despite losses
MIAMI -- The Marlins have been one of the hottest teams in baseball since May 31, posting a .576 winning percentage (19-14), which is tied with the Pirates for the best in the National League during that span.
Miami's red-hot stretch has more than doubled its win total and included series victories against playoff contenders Atlanta, St. Louis and San Diego.
Even though the Marlins ended their recent road trip with a 2-4 record, Miami manager Mike Redmond was encouraged.
"I loved the way we played in Atlanta," Redmond said. "We went into a place where we had to play really well, and I think we did that with the exception of the first night.
"But then we went into St. Louis, and the first night, we just played OK. We were sloppy. We didn't play our best baseball. And then we had what I thought [were] two excellent chances to win those other two games."
Catcher Jeff Mathis added: "We were right there. We just missed making that big play, getting that big hit, getting that big out."
Had it not been for several lapses in the field, the Marlins might have easily ended their six-game road trip against two first-place teams with a winning record.
Miami committed two errors and failed to field several balls cleanly in an 11-3 loss to Atlanta on Tuesday.
In the Braves' four-run sixth, Derek Dietrich couldn't corral a Freddie Freeman grounder to second, and reliever Ryan Webb could not retire Jordan Schafer or Andrelton Simmons on back-to-back grounders to the mound that took weird hops.
In Saturday's 5-4 loss to St. Louis, Giancarlo Stanton's throw from right field on a Shane Robinson ground ball skipped under cutoff man Logan Morrison's glove, allowing Jon Jay to score the winning run.
The deciding run in Sunday's 3-2 loss was scored when Carlos Beltran ran home while Dietrich and Morrison had Matt Holliday stuck in a rundown between first and second on a steal attempt.
"We made a couple of mistakes, but we were right there," Redmond said. "Sure, at times, we're a little bit sloppy in situations that cost us. But I like the fact that we're still in these games, and we're still competing. We're still battling."