Who was the best player the Marlins received in the whopper trade that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Detroit for six prospects?
How about Burke Badenhop?
That's right, Badenhop, the kid Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez affectionately calls ``the Hopper.''
Badenhop might just have leaped into the lead of former Tigers helping the Marlins stay in first place in the National League East. He looked that good Wednesday night in the Marlins' 6-2 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, and he felt even better after getting his first big-league victory.
The fact the Brewers' pregame notes listed him as ''Bradenhop'' didn't even bother Badenhop.
''Maybe they can give the two earned runs to that guy,'' said Badenhop, joking, after holding the Brewers to two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. ``If they misspell Joe Smith's name, then I would say something.
``It's happened. I think they were calling me Bruce when I pitched in Atlanta.''
Call him a long shot, a sleeper, but call him out to the mound every fifth day because the Marlins believe he has the potential to emerge as a valuable piece of the rotation.
''I have always had confidence in him,'' Gonzalez said. ``He was terrific tonight. He had a good sinker early, and he kept the ball down and threw strikes and got ahead in the count.
``We made some great plays behind him, but that's a by-product of good pitching.''
A couple of those great moments came from Alfredo Amezaga, who made two incredible plays in center field. He raced to left-center and made a diving, somersault catch to rob Corey Hart of an extra-base hit in the second, and then made a diving, over-the-head catch in deep center to rob Rickie Weeks.
''Amezaga was awesome. That was Mr. Amazing in center field,'' Badenhop said.
STRONG START
Badenhop was perfect for 3 2/3 innings, sending the first 10 Brewers back to the dugout before former UM standout Ryan Braun broke up the perfection with a single. It was Braun who broke up Scott Olsen's no-hit bid Tuesday with a two-out double in the fourth.
But Milwaukee couldn't muster much all night, scoring only on the strength of Weeks' 442-foot, two-run homer in the sixth that brought home Jason Kendall to close the gap to 3-2.
Badenhop left with that 3-2 lead, thanks to Mike Jacobs' two-run double in the third.
Replays showed that Jacobs' shot to right cleared the yellow line for a three-run homer, but the ball was ruled in play. Jacobs limped into second and left the game with a tight left quad. He said he was all right and didn't expect to miss more than a day or two.
The Marlins tacked on three more runs in the sixth on back-to-back homers from Jorge Cantu, who hit a 405-foot, two-run shot to left, and Dan Uggla, who followed with a solo shot.
Badenhop said he fed off Olsen's 8 2/3 inning shutout performance Tuesday.
''For sure,'' he said. ``He goes out and . . . pitches a game like that, and you want to keep it going. They were kidding me before the game, saying Fredi expects the same from me. . . .
''It's finally nice to contribute and get those fist pumps after the game,'' Badenhop said. 'The first two three or four games I was rushing myself, then I was going too slow. But I got the pace just about right [Wednesday night] and got into a groove. I told [catcher Mike Rabelo] before the game, `Let's keep it slow and low' .''
LOOKING GOOD
Badenhop did, and suddenly the kid who was an afterthought when the Tigers drafted him in the 19th round, and even more of an afterthought when the Tigers threw him into the trade with big-name prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller, looks like a big-league pitcher.
After getting knocked around in his first three starts (19 hits, 13 runs in just 13 innings), Badenhop has a 3.87 ERA over his last two starts, and he is demonstrating the same kind of control that impressed the Marlins in the spring.
He walked just one and struck out seven.
''He's growing up as a pitcher,'' Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley said. ``He has gained a lot in his last two starts.''
