Over the seven game losing streak, the Miami Marlins had collected exactly eight runs while allowing 32. In tonight’s victory, they also collected eight runs to move the dial from an MLB-worst 2.56 runs per game to a still-MLB-worst 2.69. The next worst-team in the simple runs-scored metric, the Detroit Tigers, have racked up 145 in 43 contests, a 3.37 run per game-clip. In addition, the Marlins had totaled a grand total of one home run in May, a Jon Berti shot on May 6th against the Chicago Cubs.
Mattingly had expected a “challenging” season, and that’s just what he got.