Marlins Return Home To Open 4-Game Set Against Rockies
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MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – After an ugly trip to Toronto, the Miami Marlins are hoping for a repeat performance against the team they played before heading north of the border.
The Colorado Rockies stumbled against the Marlins last weekend but quickly rebounded with an impressive showing against the team with the best record in baseball.
They'll get another shot at the Marlins on Thursday night as Chris Rusin tries to again hold down the Miami lineup in the opener of a four-game series.
The Rockies (27-31) followed a series loss to Miami (24-36) at home by taking the first two from St. Louis before losing 4-2 on Wednesday. Nolan Arenado had two home runs and four RBIs in the three games, DJ LeMahieu went 7 for 13, and Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez extended hitting streaks.
Tulowitzki, who did not play Wednesday, is batting .500 with five homers and 14 RBIs while hitting safely in nine straight. Gonzalez has hit .438 during an eight-game streak.
Perhaps most encouraging for Colorado was the work of the bullpen, which allowed two runs in eight innings after posting a 7.59 ERA in the previous seven games.
"Bottom line, we ended up this homestand with a series win against arguably the best club in baseball," manager Walt Weiss said. "It's a good way to end it."
Colorado's only win against the Marlins came behind Rusin (2-0, 1.45 ERA), who allowed two runs and struck out eight in seven innings of Saturday's 10-5 victory.
The left-hander has a 1.93 ERA in two starts after going 4-9 with a 4.69 ERA in 20 with the Chicago Cubs from 2012-13.
"He's got deception, he's got command and he's got a feel for pitching," Weiss said. "I think those three things are his greatest strengths. He knows how to pitch and how to put sequences together and how to finish an at-bat."
David Phelps (2-3, 4.68) suffered the loss opposite Rusin and will start again Thursday. The right-hander gave up a career high-tying nine runs and career-worst 11 hits in 3 2-3 innings and allowed home runs to Gonzalez and Wilin Rosario.
"I think I made three quality pitches all day," Phelps told MLB's official website. "I wasn't getting ahead of guys. I wasn't hitting my spots. I was up in the zone, and it was really just a terrible game."
Phelps is 0-3 with an 8.27 ERA in his last four starts after going 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA in his first six.
Miami is coming off a three-game sweep at Toronto in which it scored eight runs. Giancarlo Stanton went 6 for 11 with three homers and drove in half of those runs, but he struck out in all four at-bats against Rusin last weekend.
"You've got to put this behind you and get back to winning series," catcher Jeff Mathis said.
Stanton had seven RBIs in four home games against the Rockies last season but has done most of his damage this year on the road. He's hit 13 of his 21 homers away from Marlins Park and is batting .225 there compared to .262 as a visitor.
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