This Thursday the (64-90) Miami Marlins and the (82-72) Milwaukee Brewers will play game one of this four-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:40 PM EST inside American Family Field. The last time these two teams matched up, the Brewers ended up stealing two of three games.
The Miami Marlins are coming into this one after a tough two-game series against the New York Mets. They did win game one, though. Miami looked great at the dish, as they were able to score six runs. They will need to keep their bats hot in this one if they want to challenge the Brewers on the road.
The Milwaukee Brewers are entering this one after a grueling two-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Brewers struggled at the plate in game one. They only scored two runs, as they will need their bats to heat up if they want to take care of business at home against the Marlins.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Miami Marlins are currently 5-5 in their last 10 games played, as their average play has kept them out of the NL Wild Card race. They are 20.5 games back from the Philadelphia Phillies for the third and final NL Wild Card spot. Miami is also stuck in fourth place in the NL East, as they trail the Braves and the Mets by 32.5 games. The Marlins will most likely miss the playoffs this season.
At the plate, the Marlins are scoring 3.65 runs per game and they are hitting .231 as a team. This is the third least amount of runs scored per game and the 25th highest overall team batting average. They have struggled to consistently make contact with the ball, which has made it much more difficult to score. They have also realized that they don't have a crazy amount of power hidden inside of their lineup. They are only hitting .90 home runs per game, which is the 24th most in the MLB. They have had to string together mult iple base hits to create a big inning. Miami has already stolen 117 bases, as well. They are very aggressive once they reach base safely, as this has been the easiest way to move base runners into scoring position.
According to MLB.com, the Marlins will be starting Braxton Garrett on the mound. He is currently 3-6 with a 3.52 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. In his last start, he pitched for 6.0 innings and he only allowed five hits and one earned run. He hasn't been as solid on the road, though. He is currently 2-4 with a 4.40 ERA outside of his home ballpark. The Marlins bullpen I also allowing the 21st most runs per game and Miami is allowing 4.30 runs per game, which is the 12th least in the league.