The Cardinals opened their championship defense Wednesday night, along with the New World portion of the 2012 MLB schedule, landing the “Marlins 2.0” by a score of 4-1. While everyone was gaping at the kaleidoscopic new ballpark (and maybe wondering if there’d ever be another game with the roof open), here’s what I found in the box score:
– Josh Johnson allowed 10 hits, tying a career high done once before.
– Kyle Lohse (7.1 IP, 2 H) matched his low-hit start. It was the 3rd time in 299 career starts that he allowed 2 hits in 7+ innings.
- Of the 30 active pitchers with at least 270 starts, Lohse ranks last in ERA+ at 94. He was pretty good in the 2011 regular season, though.
– Randy Choate pitched a complete game — er, a complete inning, which is almost as rare for him. The longtime LOOGY set a new “low” last season, becoming the first pitcher ever to appear in 50+ games while averaging less than 2 batters per game.
– Hanley Ramirez went 0-4 with a GIDP in his first game ever at 3B. Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton also went 0-4, and immediately changed his name to Leo Nunez Mellencamp Jablonski, whereupon he was seized by la inmigracion and deported to his native California. Later he tweeted that he would revert to the name Mike Stanton and the accompanying role of lefty setup reliever; the Marlins retaliated by sending Logan Morrison to the minor leagues and switching him to a pay-as-you-go data plan.
– Carlos Beltran started in the #2 spot for the first time since 2008. Of the 5 spots in which Beltran’s started 100+ games, he has his best career numbers in the 2-hole for BA, SLG and OPS.
– Beltran and Lance Berkman rank 3rd and 4th in games played among active switch-hitters. Have you noticed the other similarities in their offensive stats?
- Runs + RBI — Beltran 2,331, Berkman 2,301 (only 9 other modern switch-hitters have topped 1,100 in both Runs & RBI)
- Total Bases — Beltran 3,361, Berkman 3,359 (#16-17 on the career list for switch-hitters)
- Extra-Base Hits — Berkman 792, Beltran 765
- Offensive WAR — Berkman 54.0, Beltran 53.6
- GIDP — Berkman 137, Beltran 131
- All-Star nods — 6 apiece
– John Buck played his 843rd game, inching closer to Mike Lansing‘s record for Wyoming natives.
– The Marlins are just the 2nd team in MLB history to change the first part of the team name without actually changing cities. (Or are they the 4th to do so, since the Angels have done it thrice?)
– Is Miami’s new logo lettering the first in MLB that contains only straight lines?
– Ozzie Guillen is the first Marlins manager to come in having managed another team to a WS championship.
– Am I the only one who just found out that Ozzie practices santería? I can’t be the only one who’s just a little concerned about those conveniently located fish tanks….
