Ricky Nolasco struck out 10 in his second complete game of the season and the Florida Marlins had 10 hits for the 14th consecutive game in a 6-2 win Tuesday night over the Houston Astros.

Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Jeremy Hermida hit solo homers for the Marlins, who’ve won nine of 11.

Florida’s streak of 10-hit games is the longest since the 1937 St. Louis Browns reached the total in 15 straight, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Nolasco (9-8) retired 23 in a row after Carlos Lee’s two-run homer in the first inning. He threw 115 pitches to complete the fifth complete game by a Marlins’ pitcher this season.

The Astros lost for the sixth time in eight games after trading catcher Ivan Rodriguez to Texas earlier in the day.

Rookie Bud Norris (3-1) gave up five runs on nine hits in 5 2-3 innings to lose for the first time in four major-league starts.

Nolasco cruised after a shaky first inning.

Lance Berkman doubled off the center-field wall before Lee homered to left on the first pitch he saw. Lee has hit seven home runs with 27 RBIs in his last 28 games.

Hanley Ramirez led off the fourth with a single to left and later scored on John Baker’s sacrifice fly. Uggla then tied it with a solo homer to right, his 22nd of the season.

Lee drove a 2-1 pitch to the wall in left-center in the Houston fourth, but Cody Ross caught it on the warning track. Nolasco struck out Geoff Blum to end the inning, then fanned Hunter Pence and Chris Coste in the fifth.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch this game, as I was entertaining visitors from out of town, but I did receive this text message at 10:37 from my friend Eric, so I figured it went well:

<3 Ricky

So, yeah. Ricky is the CCHOTG. That’s pretty easy. He gave up two loud hits, a double and a home run, in the first inning, and didn’t let anything else happen after that.

Oh, Ricky. You so fine.

The offense picked up 10 hits or more for the 14th game, the longest such streak since the 1937 St Louis Browns, and are now 18 for their last 26, a .690 winning percentage. Hanley is just other worldly at this point, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Cardinals have early 2000’s Barry Bonds playing first base, he’d be a no doubt MVP candidate. As it is, Hanley and his NL leading .360 (!!!!!!) batting average will probably have to settle for second. Though as his OPS creeps toward 1.000, Pujols’ season is looking less and less like a slam dunk.

As a side note, we’re on the verge of seeing 3 of the all time great seasons ever, with Joe Mauer currently leading the AL in batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage, Hanley putting up one of the most incredible seasons a SS has ever had, and Albert Pujols currently looking at the highest single season OPS since Barry Bonds in 04.
Jeremy Hermida also had 3 hits today including a home run, and Dan Uggla continued his recent good play with a home run. Jorge Cantu also added one. All of a sudden, the Marlins have 6 every day players hitting .270, and even Hermida has quietly bumped his average up to .262 and has actually hit .290 over his last 28 games, though the lack of XBHs is still frustrating.

You really have to be encouraged by this team’s recent play, and here’s something to raise your spirits even more. This has been a .600 winning percentage team since the horrific run in May, and has been more than a .600 winning percentage team if you remove May altogether. They have to win at a .600 clip to get to 90 from here on our, and really it doesn’t seem that crazy, especially with how the offense is clicking right now:

Month by Month
Split   W       L       RS      RA      WP

April   14      8       112     105     .636
May     9       20      119     161     .310
June    17      11      131     120     .607
July    14      10      104     88      .583
August  10      6       80      73      .625

vs

Today we see the battle of two of last year’s best pitchers, both of whom are having sub-par seasons. Ricky Nolasco comes into this game 6-7 with a 5.76 ERA. Cole Hamels counters that with a 5-5 record and a 4.87 ERA. As of late though, the story has been changing for one of them.

Nolasco was sent down to AAA on May 23rd of this year, when his ERA had ballooned to a horrific 9.07.  After two starts in New Orleans, he came back with a vengeance, putting up a 1.54 ERA, allowing only 30 hit and 7 walks with 45 strikeouts in 41 innings pitched, but his last start was not a good one. Against the Diamondbacks, Nolasco threw 7 earned runs in 6 innings of work, including a 5-run 4th inning where he faced 9 batters.

On the other side, Cole Hamels still doesn’t seem to be recapturing the magic he’s had early in his career. In his last 8 starts, he’s been a bit better, but has been terribly inconsistent. Since June, he’s 4-4 with an 4.53. Only 4 of his starts have been Quality Starts and his last one was a 5 ER, 6 IP game vs the anemic Pirates offense.

Tonight’s Lineup

Coghlan - LF
Bonifacio - 2B
Ramirez - SS
Cantu - 1B
Ross - CF
Paulino - C
Carroll - RF
Gonzalez - 3B
Nolasco - P

Uggla is getting the night off versus Hamels, who he has been terrible against with a 130/.192/.174 line in 26 Plate Appearances.