Battle Of Lefties As Marlins' Conley Faces Nationals' Gonzalez
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) – Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins were happy to get over an annoying hump in the nation's capital.
Stanton had home runs in three of the Marlins past four games, but Miami had lost each contest their slugger went deep.
That changed Tuesday when monster dinger by Stanton proved to be the difference as Miami evened their four-game set against the NL East leading Washington Nationals with a 7-3 win.
Stanton now has a new career-high in homers with 38 and the Marlins still have 51 games to play.
It won't be easy to keep the good times rolling as the Nationals will send Miami native Gio Gonzalez to the hill, who nearly no-hit the Marlins in his last start.
GAME INFO: First pitch 7:05 PM, Nationals Park
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LHP Adam Conley (4-4, 5.10 ERA) vs. Nationals LHP Gio Gonzalez (9-5, 2.66)
Conley has been solid for the Marlins after being called up from Triple-A New Orleans last month.
Since the All-Star break, Conley has a tidy 2.42 ERA. He was roughed up for four runs (three earned) during his last start but the southpaw has otherwise looked stellar for Miami.
Pitching on the road has been a bright spot for Conley, who holds a 3-1 record and a 2.20 ERA away from Marlins Park.
During four career starts against Washington, Conley holds a 1-2 record and an 8.00 ERA.
Gonzalez was activated off the paternity list Monday and will look for his tenth win of the season.
He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning of his last start, which was in Miami, and has a 2-0 record and a 1.29 ERA in three starts against the Marlins this season.
Over his career, the south Florida native is 8-3 with a 1.99 ERA in 14 starts against his hometown Marlins.
ROUNDING THE BASES
- Christian Yelich (6-for-21) and Dee Gordon (6-for-19) have had limited success against Gonzalez.
- Nationals' Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon, their No. 5 and 6 hitters, have combined to hit .533 (8-for-15) with four doubles, a triple and four RBIs against Conley.
- Derek Dietrich has a seven-game hitting streak in which he's launched a pair of home runs, including one on Tuesday, and racked up six RBIs.
- Ryan Zimmerman has just two hits in his last 27 at bats, striking out 10 times over that span.
