The Miami Marlins will look to continue their road dominance on Tuesday night when they face a Cincinnati Reds squad that hopes to jump-start its offense.
Miami’s 5-1 decision over the Reds on Monday was the team’s 10th straight victory on the road. That’s the longest such streak in the majors since the Philadelphia Phillies had 13 wins in a row in 2023.
The main reason for the success away from South Florida has been the Marlins’ offense, which has averaged seven runs a game during the winning streak. However, the bats were helped in a big way by Marlins starter Janson Junk, who held the Reds to one unearned run on one hit over his six innings on Monday.
“When they put up numbers like that, obviously you score a couple runs and we’re in a really good spot,” second baseman Xavier Edwards said on the Marlins’ post-game radio show.
The Reds will call on veteran Nick Martinez (6-8, 4.20 ERA) to end the Marlins’ streak. The right-hander has won his last two starts, including last Wednesday’s in Boston, where he scattered nine hits and four runs over 6 2/3 innings in an 8-4 victory.
Martinez, 34, is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 11 career appearances against his hometown team, including four starts. He got a no-decision in the Reds’ April 22 game against the Marlins, which Miami won 4-3, after giving up two runs on five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings.
The Marlins will counter with right-hander Eury Perez (1-2, 4.50 ERA), who will make his sixth start since returning to the majors last month. Perez, 22, missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Perez enjoyed his best outing of the season last Thursday when he threw six shutout innings. He allowed the Minnesota Twins just a hit and a walk while punching out seven in the Marlins’ 4-1 win.
Cincinnati faced Perez twice during his rookie season in 2023. He went 0-1 as he allowed six runs on nine hits and four walks over 9 1/3 innings. Perez struck out 14 but also gave up four homers.
Getting some offense has been a struggle of late for the Reds. They have just three runs over their last three games and have lost all three.
On Sunday, Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler gave up just one hit to the Reds. A day later, Marlins pitchers Junk and Lake Bachar held them to one hit over eight innings. Only ninth-inning hits by Noelvi Marte and Elly De La Cruz kept the team from being one-hit in consecutive games for the first time since April 2013.
The downturn comes after only one Reds player, De La Cruz, was named to the National League’s team for next week’s All-Star Game. There had been hopes that he would be joined by others. However, their offensive struggles and current losing streak are bigger issues.
“I don’t think anybody in this clubhouse is caught up with that (All-Star situation) in terms of being overlooked,” center fielder TJ Friedl told Cincinnati.com.
–Field Level Media
