Miami Marlins (62-62 SU, 64-53 O-U, 2nd NL East)
vs Philadelphia Phillies (45-79 SU, 57-58 O-U, 5th NL East)
When: Thursday, Aug 24th, 1:05 PM ET
Line: MIA -129 / PHI +117
Total: 10
TV/Live Stream: MLB.tv, CSN Philadelphia, FSN Florida
Miami and Philadelphia will end their series on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The Marlins have won the first two games of the series, which took place in a doubleheader on Tuesday. It’s been a very offensive series so far, with 31 runs being scored between both clubs.
Stanton, Ozuna power Marlins to doubleheader victory
Miami has scored 19 runs in the series so far, continuing a stretch of having a very reliable offense that’s outputting slightly over six runs per nine innings in their last 10 games. Giancarlo Stanton hit his 46th homer of the season in the first game of the doubleheader, and he’s recorded five RBIs and five hits over his last three games. Not to be completely overlooked, Marcell Ozuna (.307 avg) has knocked in a couple of homers in both doubleheader contests.
Starting pitcher: Right-hander Vance Worley (2-3, 4.82 ERA)
Worley will make his sixth consecutive start and 10th overall of the season. Last time out against the New York Mets on Saturday, he gave up two earned runs on three hits through 5.1 innings. While a decent outing, the bullpen collapsed to keep the offense from even getting a chance, and since they lost 8-1, he was charged with the loss. His pitching ratio was a mediocre two strikeouts to two walks. Worley hasn’t given up a homer in his last four starts.
Phillies get five homers in Game 1, still lose
Philadelphia’s offense continues to put up solid numbers over their last four games, scoring 29 total after whooping up on San Francisco over the weekend. However, pitching remains miserable with a starting ERA of 9.64 over the last five games. Five different Phillies landed a home run in the opening game of the doubleheader, but the pitching staff gave up 12 runs and they lost the game. Two starting pitchers hit the disabled list yesterday — Vince Velasquez will have surgery on his finger to end his season, and Zach Eflin has been placed on the 10-day DL with shoulder issues.
Starting pitcher: Right-hander Jake Thompson (1-1, 4.20 ERA)
Thompson will be making his third start of the season. He last made an appearance back on August 2nd against the Los Angeles Angels. He only gave up two earned runs, but added an additional five unearned runs on nine hits through five innings. He coughed up three homers in the contest. He was charged with all seven runs scored in the game as the Phillies lost 7-0.
Trends
Marlins are:
- 8-1 in their last 9 games against right-handed starters
- 6-1 in Worley’s last 7 starts overall
Phillies are:
- 34-70 in their last 104 games overall
- 3-7 in Thompson’s last 10 starts
Worley has been a reliable start for Miami and the offense seems to be on the same page. Considering Philadelphia is throwing in a reliever, expect those trends to continue.