Following a two-run loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday, the Miami Marlins found themselves in an even deeper hole on Tuesday, getting blown out by a score of 10-2 at Wrigley Field.
The Marlins entered their three-game set in Chicago with wins in seven of their last eight, but it appears that the defending World Series champs are just too much to handle. They’re now lacking firepower outside of slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who currently has a nine-game hit streak yet has failed to send another runner to home plate over the last four.
Don’t be too high on Miami at preventing the sweep this Wednesday with Jose Urena (3-2, 3.80 ERA) set to start in the series finale. The Dominican righty has an ERA of 8.16 over his last three starts and has not lasted six full innings of work since May 12.
Urena’s also fortunate that he picked up two winning decisions in those three starts mainly because of terrific run support. However, with first baseman Justin Bour – the team’s leader in home runs and runs batted-in this season – officially sent to the DL after injuring his ankle on Saturday, there won’t be as much runs that the Marlins can possibly score like before to bail out their slumping starter.
That’s now a five-game win streak for the Chicago Cubs, who began their 10-game homestand with a sweep of NL Central rival St. Louis over the weekend.
It just goes to show how confident the Cubs are in the Windy City, as they entered their homestand with losses across the board from their six-game road trip. Their offense certainly picked up again on Tuesday to improve to 19-11 at Wrigley this season.
Anthony Rizzo homered and drove in four runs on Tuesday. Meanwhile, a good number of Rizzo’s teammates were seeing double during the win. Javier Baez and Jon Jay each had two-run doubles, and Jason Heyward had an RBI in each of his two doubles for the night.
Starter John Lackey (4-5, 4.90 ERA) has not had the best of campaigns thus far, but his recent start shows that he might be turning things around. The 38-year-old veteran allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in seven solid innings against the Cardinals the last time out. Lackey’s nocturnal instincts could also possibly take effect in his start against the Marlins this Wednesday, as he has a 3.99 ERA in night-time contests compared to 5.66 during the day.
Writer’s Prediction
The Cubs (-210) complete their sweep of the Marlins, 6-2.
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