Marlins' Nolasco takes third crack at franchise wins record
Ricky Nolasco on Tuesday makes his third attempt to become the Miami Marlins' all-time wins leader.
Nolasco, tied with Dontrelle Willis at 68 wins, lost each of his last two starts. He allowed a total of 10 runs over 8 2/3 innings in those games.
"I felt like my last start was really good. Obviously the results weren't there, but I made a lot of good pitches. Just didn't catch any breaks," he said.
The right-hander faces the Colorado Rockies, against whom he is 5-1 with a 4.43 ERA in seven appearances (six starts) in his career.
Nolasco is already the Marlins' all-time strikeouts leader (812), and he has the second-highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.59) in club history. He needs 52 1/3 more innings to pass Willis for most innings pitched in team history (1,022 2/3).
Nolasco claims he is not thinking about the wins record, and he also has yet to hear from Willis, his friend and former teammate.
"He said something on Twitter when I got to 68. I'm sure he will whenever this happens, hopefully (Tuesday)," Nolasco said. "I'm just thankful for the opportunity this team has given me to be here this long."
Another veteran pitcher got the win for Miami on Monday, with Mark Buehrle beating the Rockies 7-4.
