Nothing To Gain with Doubleheaders

Baseball fans enjoy the experience of going to a doubleheader at a stadium, yet it's a chore for teams to play both games in the same day.

Other than winning both games of the doubleheader or avoiding injuries, the best part of a doubleheader is that the day is over once the two games are completed.

As hard as it is to win both games of the doubleheader, it's easy to lose both games as well.

The Marlins gained a split in yesterday's doubleheader against the Rockies, and it was good enough to take the weekend series, with the Marlins winning Friday night.

The Marlins were relieved to get that first win in game one instead of game two.

If they had lost a tough one in their first game, odds are that they would have been devastated enough to lose the second game after putting the effort in to win the first game.

Managing a pitching staff can cause a headache for a manager; the last thing he needs is to use all of his relievers in both games on the same day.

It's tough to use a reliever on a back-to-back day with the affects of the workload, but using the same guys for both games can limit their availability for the next day.

That's where middle relief can be valuable in the seventh and eighth inning role on a day like yesterday, and Fredi Gonzalez used his middle relievers in the second game.

It's not just the pitchers that suffer, but the hitters go through a fatigue of playing both games in the same day, to the point that they may not be ready to play tomorrow.

Fortunately, the Marlins are off today, so they will get their rest.

Scheduling a doubleheader creates havoc for a team when one looks at the travel logistics of the opposition. It's not a good situation for a team to waste an off-day on a doubleheader.

The Marlins won't have that problem since they played it yesterday with the Rockies, making their lone trip to South Florida this season.

After yesterday's game was postponed by rain, Fredi Gonzalez told the Marlins beat writers that he is not a fan of doubleheaders, because they cause so many headaches for him when it comes to using his roster.

It's an issue Gonzalez deals with when the Marlins play their home games. Rain can come at any time with the amount of humidity that occurs in South Florida.

It occurred on July 18 when it was sunny, yet it started to rain in the second inning. It resulted in a postponement, and Josh Johnson's start against the Phillies was wasted in that game.

That's not a fun situation to be in for Gonzalez, but he adapts to it.

Fortunately, the Marlins don't have many rain outs for the most part this year.

There's nothing to gain for a team that plays a doubleheader.