Carlos Lee recorded his first home run as a member of the Marlins on Tuesday.
The Miami Marlins will conclude a six-game-road-trip in Pittsburgh against one of baseball’s surprise teams, the Pirates. The Marlins kicked off the trip at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs and dropped the last two games after winning the first. At the conclusion of the series, Miami will head home for six games to face the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres. The Fish are off to just a 3-4 start in the second half and need to turn things around quickly if they’re to make a serious playoff push.
The Miami Marlins come to Pittsburgh with a 44-48 record putting them in fourth place in the National League East. The Marlins are 10 games back of the Washington Nationals in the division and 6.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves for the second and final wild card spot. The Pittsburgh Pirates enter the series with Miami with a 51-40 record which is good for second in the National League Central just a half game back of the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates are currently the top wild card team, but are just one game better than Atlanta at the moment. The Marlins and Pirates will play night games on Friday and Saturday before finishing the series with a day game on Sunday.
Season Series
Series tied 1-1. The Marlins and Pirates played just a short, two-game-set back in mid-May. Pittsburgh opened the series with a 3-2 victory before Miami finished it with a 6-2 win in what was Josh Johnson’s first victory in more than a year.
Lee Hits First Homer as a Marlin
In Tuesday’s 9-5 win over the Chicago Cubs, first baseman Carlos Lee finally hit his first home run as a Miami Marlin. With the bases loaded in the top of the 5th, Lee hammered a pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam giving Miami a 7-0 lead. Lee also came through with clutch RBIs during the previous series against Washington and has been swinging the bat pretty well of late. In 11 games with the Marlins this season, Lee is hitting .257 with 7 RBIs and five runs scored.
Carl Crawford to Marlins?
There have been rumors swirling of late about the Miami Marlins possibly acquiring Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford. After fighting through injury, Crawford just recently made his 2012 debut. The names rumored to be dealt for Crawford are shortstop Jose Reyes or perhaps even third baseman Hanley Ramirez. For now, they are all just rumors. Crawford is a four-time All-Star, but hit just .255 in 2011, his first season in Boston.
Pitching Matchups
Friday – Ricky Nolasco (MIA) 8-7, 4.47 ERA vs. Kevin Correia (PIT) 6-6, 4.25 ERA
Saturday – Carlos Zambrano (MIA) 5-7, 4.22 ERA vs. A.J. Burnett (PIT) 10-3, 3.78 ERA
Sunday – Anibal Sanchez (MIA) 5-6, 3.95 ERA vs. Jeff Karstens (PIT) 2-2, 4.15 ERA
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