All good things must indeed come to an end. The Marlins are nearing the end of what has been a fantastic season for the team and its fans, but that too (playoffs or no playoffs) will eventually come to an end. Like all those things, the Marlins win streak was bound to come to an end at some point as well, that time came Saturday evening in a 3-2 loss to the Phillies.

The Marlins bats were uncharacteristically, at least as of late, quiet this evening and the Marlins 9 game win streak came to an end in front of 28,757 fans at Dolphin Stadium. Anibal Sanchez went 5 2/3 innings giving up 4H, 3R(2ER), and struck out 8. It was a solid outing for Sanchez, but again he was denied a victory. On fire rookie Cameron Maybin came back down to Earth going 1-5, scoring a run, but striking out 4 times.

Just like the win streak wasn’t able to fully get the Marlins back into the playoff picture, tonights loss doesn’t really count them out. All it does is make the next week, the final week, that much more critical for the Marlins. In all reality the Marlins have to win their last 8 games, and probably get some help, to make the playoffs. Aside from a long losing streak by the Phillies AND Mets, the NL East pennant will again elude the Fish. After losing tonight, they are 5 1/2 games back. The NL Wild Card however is still a possibility. The Brewers continue their slump, and the Mets currently hold the lead but the Marlins are 5 games back and the Mets are not playing their best baseball.

One last interesting note from the game was the attendance of 28,757. As the Marlins kept extending their win streak, the attendance numbers went up and up with each victory. I think some of the Florida fans still need a lesson in supporting their team. Florida fans don’t seem to fully appreciate what they have. In 16 years of existence the Marlins have won 2 World Series titles, the Cubs haven’t won even 1 World Series in the past 100 years. It shouldn’t take a win streak to convince South Florida residents that the Marlins are worth watching. Granted, there have been some BAD Marlins’ teams in those 16 years, but not recently. The Marlins have been competitive for part or all of each of the past 5 seasons and have been this season as well. So get out to the ballpark, now and in the future, and cheer on your team!