Worley, Marlins Look To Take Three Of Four From Lowly Phillies
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PHILADELPHIA (CBSMiami) – The Miami Marlins are in a unique situation as the end of August draws closer.
With just under six weeks to go in the season, Miami is 62-63 and within 5 ½ games of the second National League wild card spot.
For a team that was 13 games below .500 in late May, that's a pretty remarkable feat.
The Marlins will look to get back to even on Thursday when they wrap up a four-game set against the last place Philadelphia Phillies.
Miami swept a doubleheader on Tuesday but couldn't get anything going on Wednesday, dropping an 8-0 game to the host Phillies.
The shutout was a bit of a surprise for the Marlins as scoring runs has become the team's forte of late.
Prior to Wednesday's loss, Miami had scored 64 runs in their previous 11 games, coming away with wins in nine of them.
GAME INFO: First pitch 1:05 PM, Citizens Bank Park
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RHP Vance Worley (2-3, 4.82 ERA) vs. Phillies RHP Jake Thompson (1-1, 4.20)
Just like with the Marlins, Worley has enjoyed quite the second-half turnaround.
During the month of August Worely has started four games and seen his ERA drop from 6.42 to 4.82.
He's pitched 22.1 innings this month, surrendering just six earned runs off 19 hits.
Worely has seen more action at Citizens Bank Park than any other stadium. This will be his 29th start and 32nd appearance overall at the home of the team that drafted him.
He holds a 10-8 record with a 3.71 ERA at Philly's home ballpark.
Thompson is expected to be called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to start Thursday's game following righty Zach Elfin being placed on the 10-day disabled list earlier in the week.
This will be Thompson's third start of the year for Philly. His previous two outings couldn't have been more different.
He lasted five innings in both starts, but the first one saw him give up no runs in a win over the Atlanta Braves on July 28 before surrendering seven runs (two earned) in a loss to the Los Angeles Angels on August 2.
ROUNDING THE BASES
- Rhys Hoskins has hit seven home runs over his last nine games, something no Phillies rookie has ever done.
- Marcell Ozuna has reached base in ten straight games, logging 12 hits, three home runs, nine RBIs and 7 runs during the stretch.
- Giancarlo Stanton's 46 home runs lead the majors, with the next closest player (Aaron Judge) coming in with 37.
- Stanton needs one RBI to reach the century mark for just the second time in his career while Ozuna needs three to reach the milestone for the first time.
