It’s the conclusion of a weekend series between a pair of National League teams on opposite ends of the standings in the City of Angels. The Miami Marlins are on the road as they are across the country to finish a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday afternoon. In the opening game of the series Friday night, Los Angeles clawed their way back to earn a 2-1 victory in a well-pitched contest by both sides. Which team comes up with the victory on getaway day to leave town with momentum? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the middle game of the series at Dodger Stadium Saturday night.
Miami battled to the end but ended up on the wrong end of a low-scoring affair Friday night in the series opener. The Marlins entered Saturday fourth in the NL East, 24.5 games behind the Mets for the division lead. In the NL wild card picture, they were a distant 12.5 games behind the Padres for the final wild card spot. On Friday night, the Marlins finished with five hits with no player having more than one. Jerar Encarnacion drove in the lone run for Miami with a RBI double in the seventh inning: he also committed an error to help the tying run score in the bottom of the frame. Jesus Luzardo didn’t factor in the decision as he threw 6.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Dylan Floro (0-2) took the loss in relief as he allowed one run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout in one inning of work.
Sandy Alcantara gets the call for the Marlins in th e series finale as he makes his 25th start of the season in this contest. He comes in 11-5 with a 1.92 ERA, a 0.942 WHIP, 43 walks and 152 strikeouts over 173 innings of work this season. Alcantara picked up the win in his last start, which came at home against the Padres Monday night. He threw seven innings, allowing no runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in a game the Marlins won 3-0. In his last three starts, Alcantara is 2-1 with a 1.52 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP, four walks and 14 strikeouts over 23.2 innings of action. Alcantara faces the Dodgers for the fourth time in his career in this contest. He comes in 0-2 with a 14.81 ERA, a 2.613 WHIP, six walks and 12 strikeouts over 10.1 innings of work. Alcantara is 0-1 with a 19.89 ERA, a 3.00 WHIP, five walks and seven strikeouts over 6.1 innings of work in two career starts at Dodger Stadium.