ARLINGTON, Texas — With a three-game winning streak coming after a six-game losing streak, there is no more welcome sight for the Texas Rangers than a date with the team with the second worst record in MLB – the Miami Marlins.
That’s not to say that the Rangers should take Miami lightly – after all, Texas’ record against the last place teams that they’ve faced so far sits at 3-6. But the offense appears to be catching up to the pitching; even though three games is hardly a lot of data to go on, the run differential of 16-5 during their winning spell looks a lot better than the near-two week string of games with four or fewer runs.
No matter, the Rangers are headed to pitcher-friendly loanDepot park and they’ll have to be able to score in multiple manners to keep the streak alive.
Texas Rangers (27-29, 2nd Place AL West, 3.0 GB) @ Miami Marlins (20-37, 5th Place NL East, 19 GB)
Previously, for Miami
The Marlins, truthfully, haven’t been playing terrible baseball after a miserable start to their campaign.
They’re coming home after a 3-3 road trip, which saw them take two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks before losing two of three to the San Diego Padres. In the final game, a 9-1 victory for Miami, the Fish knocked former Ranger Yu Darvish out after three innings and tallied 16 hits against the Friars.
Miami has also gone 5-5 in its last 10. They’re on something of an upswing, especially given a 7-24 start through April.
Up until May 12th, the Marlins had only won one series. The two games in a row that Miami dropped to San Diego was their first set of consecutive losing games since facing the Philadelphia Phillies in early May. Since then, they’ve taken a series apiece from the Tigers, Mets, Brewers and D-Backs before finally succumbing to the Padres.
Miami’s highlights have been focused largely around their pitching. On their recent road trip, the entire pitching staff kept the Marlins in games, posting a 1.78 ERA. Braxton Garrett, the lone Marlin starter to pitch twice during the stretch, started the road trip with a Maddux against the Diamondbacks, shutting them out as Miami scored three times to pick up the win.
He concluded the road trip by allowing a solo homer and nothing else over five innings. Ryan Weathers also shut out the Snakes over six innings in his recent outing.
The biggest problem for Miami has been their offense, as they have the sixth lowest batting average in the National League and have scored the fewest runs on the Senior Circuit. The Marlins also don’t hit a lot of homers (45), are dead last in all of baseball in walks, and are dead last in the NL in total slugging.
With the pitching taking a while to improve its station, and the offense still lagging behind, the result has been Miami dragging the anchor in the NL East.
What to watch for
Game 57, 6:10 PM CT - RHP Jose Urena (1-4, 3.53 ERA) vs RHP Sixto Sanchez (0-3, 6.25 ERA)
Game 58, 3:10 PM CT - TBD vs LHP Ryan Weathers (3-4, 3.16 ERA)
Game 59, 12:40 PM CT - TBD vs LHP Trevor Rogers (1-6, 5.65 ERA)
Texas will have to play another round of Rotation Roulette against Miami. The only thing for certain is that former Marlin Jose Urena will go for the Rangers in the opener.
Again, the two off days in the week allow Texas to push some starters back or give them extra rest. Under normal circumstances, Michael Lorenzen would go for Texas in the middle game and the surprise Dominican Gerson Garabito could close out the series.
Last time out, Urena completed just five innings and gave up three runs while getting knocked around to the tune of nine hits. Lorenzen pitched well against Minnesota, allowing just one run in six innings before the bullpen came in and blew the lead. Lorenzen also left that start with leg cramps, but is expected to be fine for his next start.
Garabito, making his Major League debut against Minnesota, showed a lot of confidence, and although he threw just 3 ⅔ innings, he gave up just one run to help Texas break a long losing streak and likely earn a chance to continue in the rotation until more reinforcements arrive.
The Marlins are sending Sixto Sanchez, Ryan Weathers, and Trevor Rogers to face Texas. Sanchez made his first start in four years back in April and has been nursing his return to the rotation since then. He’s given up runs in every start he’s made, but the Marlins are happy to let Sanchez, who has suffered multiple injuries since 2020, work his way back to full strength as a member of the rotation.
Lefty Weathers is fresh off a shutout of Arizona. He struck out seven and walked one in what was his fifth straight quality start. In those outings, Weathers has held opponents to a .165 average, maintained over a five-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio and recorded a 1.91 ERA.
Trevor Rogers, another left-hander, has had a rollercoaster of a May, but is coming off a start against the Padres where he went 5 ⅓ innings and gave up just one run on six hits. The one run was scored via a solo homer, and Rogers walked away with a no-decision, as the Marlins could only manage one run themselves against San Diego.
Miami might be a last place team on paper, but they’ve been playing better as of late, and lest we forget, the Marlins were a playoff team with much the same roster just last October. This isn’t going to be a steamroller of a series for Texas.
Unless the Texas offense, featuring Corey Seager with eight home runs in his last eight games, can keep up the pressure, we might be in for a few pitchers’ duels in South Beach.
Do you think the Rangers can continue to claw back to .500 in South Florida? Share your predictions with Matt on X (formerly Twitter) @FisherWritesMLB.
Also on WFAA.com:
