Following Rainout, Marlins To Wrap Up Brief Series In Washington D.C.
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Marlins will wrap up their brief visit to our nation's capital tonight when they play the series finale against the Washington Nationals. The Marlins won the series opener on Monday afternoon by the score of 3-2 but had Tuesday's game postponed due to rain.
It was the first time this season the Marlins were rained out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader when Miami makes its last visit to D.C. in late September.
The Marlins and Nationals are handling their starting rotation differently in regard to the rainout. Marlins manager Mike Redmond decided to push Tuesday's scheduled starter Henderson Alvarez to Wednesday.
Washington manager Matt Williams went with the opposite move, skipping over Tuesday's starter Blake Treinen to allow Jordan Zimmermann, Wednesday's scheduled starter, to take his turn in the rotation. Treinen will be available to pitch out of the Nationals bullpen if needed.
Zimmermann (3-2, 2.96 ERA), who won 19 games in 2013, is 1-0 in two starts against the Marlins this season. He last started for the Nationals on Friday against Pittsburgh, surrendering four runs and seven hits in six innings while being tagged with the loss.
Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez (2-3, 3.21 ERA) has pitched well of late, with Miami winning four of the last five games he has started.
Alvarez has already pitched two complete game shutouts this season and pitched seven scoreless innings in his last start against the Phillies. Unfortunately for Alvarez, Miami's bullpen couldn't hold the lead and he was given a no decision though the Marlins did end up winning the game on a walk-off single by Christian Yelich.
Wednesday will be the sixth time that Alvarez has faced the Nationals in his career. He has gone 0-3 with a 3.81 ERA in five starts against Washington.
The Marlins will be looking for Alvarez to have the kind of success on the road that he enjoys when pitching at home. At Marlins Park Alvarez is 2-1 and boasts a 1.85 ERA but when away from home he has yet to win (0-2) and his ERA rises all the way up to 4.88.
Despite his struggles on the road, Marlins manager Mike Redmond is still very confident when Alvarez in on the mound.
"He gives us a chance to win," said Redmond, speaking of Alvarez. "Sometimes it kind of looks like it might be teetering but he goes out there and he pounds the strike zone. He keeps team's off-balance and he keeps us in ballgames."
One thing that the Marlins hope does not change is the success that slugger Giancarlo Stanton has had throughout his career at Nationals Park. During Monday's win against Washington Stanton went 3 for 4 from the plate, including a two-run home run to the deepest part of straightaway center field.
Stanton is a career .333 hitter against the Nationals, knocking 14 homers to go with 27 RBI's. Even with Tuesday's rainout, Stanton leads the National League in home runs (15) and RBI's (49).
The Marlins (27-25) are in second place in the NL East, trailing first place Atlanta by 1.5 games. Miami will host the Braves for a 3-game series at Marlins Park starting on Friday night.
First pitch from Nationals Park is set for 7:05pm.
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