Marlins Hope To Continue Impressive Power Surge

MIAMI (SportsDirect Inc.) -- The Miami Marlins are riding an impressive power surge to win 10 of their last 11 games while the Philadelphia Phillies benefited from some better-than-expected pitching to emerge victorious in 10 of 12 before dropping their final two contests. The National League East rivals look to continue their ascent within the division on Friday when they open a three-game series in South Florida.

Christian Yelich went deep for the second time in three outings on Thursday as Miami extended its home run total to 17 in the last 11 contests by completing a sweep of Arizona. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton has six homers in his last 10 games and is 14-for-35 with 12 RBIs and nine runs scored in that span. While Miami extended its winning streak to three contests with a 4-0 triumph on Thursday night, Philadelphia was limited to just five hits in a 4-0 setback to St. Louis earlier in the afternoon. Leadoff batter Odubel Herrera has hit safely in four straight and 24 of 29 games this season for the Phillies.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, TCN (Philadelphia), FSN Florida (Miami)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (4-1, 1.44 ERA) vs. Marlins LH Wei-Yin Chen (2-1, 4.26)

Velasquez continued to fluster his opponents on Sunday by scattering two hits over six scoreless innings en route to a 2-1 victory over Cleveland. The 23-year-old has kept his foes' bats at bay as opponents are hitting just .164 against him. Velasquez has struggled with his control, however, issuing four walks versus the Indians and seven in his last two outings.

Chen has distanced himself from a disastrous opening day start, posting a 2-1 mark after allowing just 10 runs on 20 hits in 26 2/3 innings. The 30-year-old Taiwan native kept the ball in the park in his last outing versus Milwaukee on Saturday after permitting four homers over his previous four starts. Chen certainly enjoyed his lone career outing versus Philadelphia, against which he scattered four hits and struck out nine over eight scoreless innings to pick up the win.

WALK-OFFS

1. Philadelphia veteran 1B Ryan Howard is just 17-for-88 on the season, but his last three hits have left the park.

2. Miami 1B Justin Bour (finger) is expected to perform baseball activities on Friday and is listed as day-to-day by the team.

3. Phillies OF/1B Darin Ruf is 0-for-13 in his last five contests.

PREDICTION: Marlins 3, Phillies 1