Fresh off a 5-1 homestand, the Miami Marlins will look to take their winning ways on the road as they start a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.
After a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, manager Clayton McCullough’s Marlins have the majors’ best record this month (16-5). That hot streak has helped them get to 42-39, the third-best record in Marlins history after 81 games.
“We were able to kind of keep our heads above water for a little bit when we weren’t playing that well,” McCullough told the Miami Herald. “We all felt like there was going to be a stretch when we were going to get going and put a run together. Just try not to dig ourselves too big a hole until that happened, and this month we played very well.”
Max Meyer (8-0, 2.80 ERA) will start for Miami on Friday. The right-hander ranks in the top 10 in wins (tied for sixth), ERA (ninth) and strikeouts (102, tied for seventh). He pitched five innings in Saturday’s 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants. In getting his third win in his last four starts, Meyer allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks and struck out seven.
Meyer has a 1-0 mark against the Cardinals in two career starts. He faced them in Miami on April 20, yielding a pair of runs on three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out eight but did not factor into the decision as the Marlins rallied for a 5-3 win.
Shortstop Otto Lopez, who leads the majors with a .340 batting average, has a six-game hitting streak and recorded two hits in each of the three games against the Texas Rangers this week.
St. Louis got an unexpected night off when rain postponed their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Because of that, right-hander Michael McGreevy (3-6, 3.35 ERA), scheduled to start that game, is now listed as Friday’s starter in a rematch of the April 20 game.
McGreevy has four losses in his past six starts. That includes 6-5 last Friday in Kansas City, where the Royals tagged him for five runs in as many innings. He gave up eight hits and a walk and struck out two.
Miami got to McGreevy for four runs in 5 2/3 innings two months ago. He took the loss, allowing five hits and two walks against three strikeouts. In two starts against Miami in his career, he is 1-1 with a 4.63 ERA.
The Cardinals lost two of three games against the Diamondbacks this week and have lost five of their last seven overall. Thursday’s rainout did give the Cardinals’ bullpen an unexpected breather. Manager Oliver Marmol has needed relievers to handle 25 2/3 innings of work over the last six games.
“There’s going to be weeks where it flip-flops, where the starters are really good, and that’s just baseball,” Marmol said after Wednesday’s loss. “But our pen has been used pretty heavily.”
Utility player Jose Fermin has been one of the Cardinals’ bright spots this month, going 16-for-44 (.364) in 15 games. That has helped his season average jump from .217 on June 1 to .277 now.
–Field Level Media
