Winners of eight games in a row, the Miami Marlins will aim to clinch their fourth consecutive series win on Wednesday night when they host the Minnesota Twins.
A Marlins victory also would tie the record for the longest streak in franchise history.
Kyle Stowers, who hit a homer in Miami’s 2-0 win over Minnesota on Tuesday, is riding an eight-game hitting streak in which he has gone deep four times.
“We’ve been winning some, and we’ve doubled down on the confidence we had in ourselves already,” Stowers said Tuesday. “Who knows what happens the rest of the year, but we believe we can win each game each night.”
Of his homer on Tuesday, Stowers mused: “It wasn’t the prettiest swing, but I was able to get the job done.”
Miami’s Janson Junk (2-0, 3.73 ERA) will start Wednesday’s contest against Minnesota’s Simeon Woods Richardson (3-4, 4.63) in a battle of right-handers.
Junk, a 29-year-old who has yet to face the Twins in his career, was the Yankees’ 22nd-round pick out of Seattle University in 2017. This will be just his eighth appearance and his third start since the Marlins signed him to a minor-league contract in February.
Woods Richardson, a 24-year-old Texas native who has never faced the Marlins, was the New York Mets’ second-round pick in 2018. He was traded to Toronto in 2019, won a silver medal with Team USA in 2020, and Minnesota acquired him in 2021, which is when he made his MLB debut.
One concerning trend for Richardson is that he is 0-2 with a 5.53 ERA in six road starts this year. In six home starts, he is 3-2 with a 3.82 ERA.
Woods Richardson will have to deal with Stowers, who leads the Marlins in homers (14), RBIs (44), slugging percentage (.509) and OPS (.868).
Byron Buxton, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Tuesday, leads Minnesota in WAR (3.3), triples (three), homers (19), steals (15), RBIs (51) and runs (53).
“He’s the engine that drives this team,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
As for the red-hot Marlins, they are getting contributions from some surprising places.
Take catcher Liam Hicks, for example.
The Marlins picked up Hicks, 26, as part of the Rule 5 draft in December. Hicks, a left-handed hitter, made Miami’s Opening Day roster even though he had never played a single inning above Double-A ball.
Hicks started this season as a backup, but he has been so versatile that he has earned 25 starts at catcher, eight at designated hitter, and seven at first base.
Among players with at least 15 starts this season, Hicks’ OPS ranks second only to Stowers.
Heriberto Hernandez, a corner outfielder, is another surprising Marlins player. The 25-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has an .837 OPS in 21 games and 65 plate appearances.
The Marlins signed him to a minor-league contract in November, and Hernandez has played well since making his MLB debut just over one month ago (May 30).
–Field Level Media
