Marlins Hope To Salvage A Series Split In Cincinnati On Jose Day
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
CINCINNATI (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The past few weeks have not been kind to the Miami Marlins and its beginning to show in the standings.
The Marlins are slipping in the National League wild card race while failing to take advantage of an easier portion of the schedule.
Miami will try to salvage a split of a four-game series and take some momentum into the rest of the road trip when they visit the Cincinnati Reds for the finale on Thursday.
Miami took the opener 6-3 but totaled five runs in losing the next two as the offense adjusts to life without Giancarlo Stanton in the middle of the lineup.
The Marlins dropped two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild card with Wednesday's 3-2 setback and are one game behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, who will host Miami in a three-game series beginning on Friday.
The Reds are trying to play spoiler and will get more chances when they host a four-game series against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend.
Veteran second baseman Brandon Phillips (knee) returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing the previous two contests and delivered the key hit with a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), FSN Ohio (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Jose Fernandez (12-6, 2.81 ERA) vs. Reds RH Dan Straily (8-6, 3.75)
Fernandez had his last start skipped in an effort to keep his workload down in his first full season since returning from Tommy John surgery and is going for the first time since holding San Francisco to one run in six innings on Aug. 8.
The 24-year-old is on the verge of his first 200-strikeout season with 198 in 137 2/3 total innings. Fernandez fanned eight without issuing a walk in a home win over Cincinnati on July 8, when he was charged with one unearned run in seven innings.
Straily is 4-0 in his last five starts and allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight consecutive outings.
The 27-year-old worked into and out of trouble in a win at Milwaukee on Saturday, when he was charged with two runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Straily went up against Fernandez in that July 8 meeting and absorbed the loss while yielding three runs and six hits in six frames.
WALK-OFFS
- Reds LF Adam Duvall (foot) sat out the last two games while CF Billy Hamilton (knee) was limited to pinch hitting on Wednesday after missing Tuesday's contest.
- Miami CF Marcell Ozuna recorded four extra-base hits – two home runs – in four games since taking over the cleanup spot in place of Stanton.
- Cincinnati C Tucker Barnhart went 0-for-3 on Wednesday, ending his career-best 12-game hitting streak.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sports Direct Inc. contributed to this report.)
