Athletics Drub Hapless Marlins 20-4 to Unexpectedly Reach .500 for Season

Athletics Drub Hapless Marlins 20-4 to Unexpectedly Reach .500 for Season

Off the field, the Oakland Athletics are a mess, pushing through a relocation to Las Vegas unwanted by nearly all except boss John Fisher and MLB's other 29 owners.

On the field, to the shock of the baseball world, the Athletics are doing just fine.

On Saturday, Oakland raised eyebrows on a crowded sports day by destroying the Miami Marlins 20–4 at the Oakland Coliseum—a win that moved the team to .500 on the season.

Before 7,809 fans, the Athletics jumped on the Marlins with 10 runs in the third inning to take a 12–0 lead. The offense never slowed down, racking up 21 hits on the day. Seven players had multi-hit efforts.

Key contributors for the Athletics included pitcher Paul Blackburn, who threw seven innings of one-run ball to move to 3–1 on the season, and designated hitter Brent Rooker, who drove in five of Oakland's 20 runs.

While the Athletics moved within a game and a half of first place in the AL West, Miami dropped to an abysmal 9–26.

Marlins Exec Makes Blunt Statement After Trading Luis Arráez to Padres

Marlins Exec Makes Blunt Statement After Trading Luis Arráez to Padres

Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix didn't mince words when reflecting on the trade he completed Friday night.

"We are unlikely to make the playoffs this year," Bendix bluntly said to reporters in a press conference.

The Marlins traded two-time batting champion Luis Arráez to the San Diego Padres in exchange for three prospects and reliever Woo-Suk Go.

Arraez was a staple in the Marlins' lineup since the team acquired him in a trade in January 2023, batting .343/.384/.450 across 180 games with Miami. He'll now join a Padres team attempting to keep up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

The Marlins were one of baseball's most surprising stories last year, winning 84 games and making the playoffs as a wild-card team. But they got off to a horrendous start in 2024, dropping their first nine games and 16 of their first 20.

Entering Saturday's slate of games, the Marlins are 9–25 and in last place in the NL West, 13 1/2 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies. Fangraphs currently gives the Marlins just a 0.5% chance to make the playoffs.

There's a long way to go in the regular season—128 games remain on the Marlins' schedule—but Bendix is right. Miami probably won't make the playoffs. It's why one of baseball's best contact hitters is now wearing brown and gold in San Diego.

Prospect Learned He Was Part of Luis Arraez Trade While Standing on Second Base

Prospect Learned He Was Part of Luis Arraez Trade While Standing on Second Base

Miami Marlins infielder Luis Arraez was reportedly traded to the San Diego Padres in exchange for three prospects and a relief pitcher on Friday night. Well, one of the prospects, Nathan Martorella, a first baseman for the Padres' Double-A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions, learned that he was included in the deal in perhaps the most unexpected way possible.

Martorella, who had just lined a single to right field in the top of the third inning of the Missions' game against the Arkansas Travelers, advanced to second on a walk and was standing on second base when Missions manager Luke Montz emerged from the dugout and signaled for a pinch runner to replace a confused-looking Martorella.

Martorella and outfielder Jakob Marsee, who was also included in the Arraez deal, then said goodbye to their Missions teammates before jogging off the field to the clubhouse.

Kudos to Martorella and Marsee for making the best of the situation, and props to broadcaster Steven Davis for his outstanding call of the moment.

Along with Martorella and Marsee, the Padres also dealt outfield prospect Dillon Head and relief pitcher Woo Suk-Go to the Marlins for Arraez, a two-time National League batting champion.

Padres to Acquire Luis Arráez in Trade With Marlins, per Report

Padres to Acquire Luis Arráez in Trade With Marlins, per Report

Luis Arráez is on the move again.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Friday that the Miami Marlins are expected to trade Arráez to the San Diego Padres in exchange for three prospects and a relief pitcher. According to Marlins insider Craig Mish, San Diego will send outfield prospects Dillon Head and Jakob Marsee, first baseman Nathan Martorella and relief pitcher Woo-Suk Go to Miami in the deal.

The trade is not yet official.

Arráez, who won the AL batting title in 2022, was traded by the Minnesota Twins to Miami in January of 2023. The two-time All-Star infielder won the '23 NL batting title with the Marlins, hitting .354 in 147 games.

In 33 games this season, Arráez is hitting .299/.347/.372 with eight doubles and one triple.

Arráez plays primarily at second base but also can play at first base, third base and the corner outfield. He joins a Padres team that entered Friday night's slate 16–18 and in second place in the NL West.

Colorado Rockies Have Now Somehow Trailed in All 31 of Their Games

Colorado Rockies Have Now Somehow Trailed in All 31 of Their Games

The Colorado Rockies jumped on Miami Marlins' Edward Cabrera and scored three first-inning runs Thursday and had a great opportunity to snap one of the more astounding current streaks in sports. A wire-to-wire victory — unremarkable yet still elusive — appeared to be in reach. But as has happened in each of the Rockies' first 31 games this season, they played their way into a deficit. This time it didn't happen until the bottom of the 10th inning when Miami's Jesús Sánchez walked things off with a single to send Colorado to 7-24 on the campaign and keep the unenviable streak alive.

The Rockies are the first team since 1900 to trail in each of their first 31 games. With each game they add on to the record, having blown past the 1910 St. Louis Browns who stumbled out of the gates in their first 28 games. One would have to go all the way back to Sept. 26, 2023 to find the last time they enjoyed a lead in a Major League Baseball game. Which is not ideal.

Expectations were pretty low for the Rockies coming off a 59-103 campaign last season but no one could have expected this. The hitting hasn't been atrocious but the pitching is another story. Colorado currently carries a 5.92 ERA, easily the worst in baseball and much higher than even the Chicago White Sox (5.15).