Two second basemen who have demonstrated early on that they’re serious about making the National League All-Star team hope to continue fast starts at the other’s expense Saturday afternoon when Xavier Edwards and the Miami Marlins once again visit Luis Arraez and the San Francisco Giants.
Both players had three hits Friday night, and Edwards’ teammates collected 13 more in a 9-4 triumph during the opener of a three-game series. Miami posted its sixth straight win in San Francisco dating back to August 2024.
With a double, two singles and a walk in five plate appearances, Edwards raised his season batting average to .347, the second-best mark in the majors.
The three-hit game was the 26-year-old’s second of the season. He has logged multiple hits in 11 of his 26 games.
Edwards is finding success despite bouncing around the batting order. He already has been slotted second, fourth and seventh for multiple games this season. He was in the cleanup spot for the Friday contest.
“With X’s skill set, it makes it easy for me. I feel like I can put him anywhere with the combination of where other guys are,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said this week. “He’s a really good hitter, (and) as he’s continuing to get time in the major leagues, he’s getting better. He’s evolving.”
Edwards has never batted against left-hander Robbie Ray (2-3, 2.86 ERA), the Giants’ scheduled Saturday starter. Ray will be making his 11th career start and 12th career appearance against the Marlins, against whom he is 4-5 with a 2.29 ERA.
The 34-year-old veteran has been a victim of poor run support in all three of his losses this season. He allowed two runs in a 3-0 defeat to the New York Yankees, both runs in a 2-1 setback at Cincinnati and all three runs in a 3-0 loss at Washington on Sunday in his latest start.
Similarly, Marlins right-hander Eury Perez (2-1, 4.15 ERA) has yet to face the Giants in his three-year career.
Miami has won four times in five starts by Perez this season, the most of recent of which was his best outing of the young campaign. The 23-year-old held the Milwaukee Brewers to one run, which was unearned, over six innings on Sunday in a 5-3 home victory.
Perez will have to deal with a hot-hitting Arraez, who had three singles in five at-bats on Friday. The only time the two faced off previous was last July, when Arraez was playing for the San Diego Padres. Perez induced two groundouts from Arraez, who managed a single.
The three hits on Friday raised Arraez’s season average to .320, quite an improvement over his .211 mark through his first five games as a Giant.
Arraez has hit .346 since then.
“He’s found who he is,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said following the Friday contest. “He had some hard-contact outs early in the year. Maybe he didn’t have as much to show for it as maybe he deserved. He’s caught his rhythm.”
–Field Level Media
