The Marlins are making a serious run in the National League East. The team has extended its win streak to three games with a 6-5 home victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday to cap a four-game home stand.
Miami has won seven of its last eight with the only loss coming in the opener of the Arizona series. Buoyed by the team’s newfound momentum, Dan Straily will take the mound also looking to sustain his streak. Straily is 3-0 in his last starts. He was great in mowing down the struggling Philadelphia Phillies in his last start, yielding just one earned run, albeit on nine hits, and struck out 10 in 6.2 innings of a 10-2 home win on May 31.
Straily used to call Wrigley Field home, as he was part of the Cubs roster in 2014. Straily, however, has a 12.15 career ERA in 6.2 total innings across three appearances in Chicago’s north side.
The Marlins are looking to give Cubs starter Eddie Butler some headaches again. Butler is 0-2 with a 12.64 ERA in his career versus Miami.
No need to push the panic button for the defending World Series champs. After losing six straight games, including an embarrassing three-game series sweep at the hands of the San Diego Padres, the Cubs came back to life with by winning all three games of a series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Cubs, who ended that series with a 7-6 win on Sunday, hopes to keep the good times rolling as they host the Marlins. Dan Straily on the mound appears to be a tasty sight for the Cubs, who have a collective career batting average of .314 off of the Marlins’ righty. Kris Bryant seemingly has Straily’s number as the 2016 league MVP is 4-for-7 with a pair of homers against the pitcher.
Eddie Butler, meanwhile, is going to start for the Cubs in the series opener. Butler is 2-1 with a 4.42 ERA in four starts this season. He had it rough in his last mound duty, giving up six earned runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings of a 6-2 road loss to the Padres on May 30.
