Jose Reyes' 24-game hitting streak is the longest in baseball this season. (Photo: Mallory Zeising)
The Miami Marlins’ struggles continue as the Fish leave the nation’s capital and head to the Big Apple. The Marlins dropped three of four to the first place Washington Nationals over the weekend. Miami and Washington split a doubleheader on Friday, but the Nats took the final two games of the series. The Marlins now head to Citi Field to take on a New York Mets’ team that like Miami, has had a tough second half of the season. The trip to New York will also conclude a 7-game road-trip for Miami.
After falling 4-1 to Washington on Sunday, the Miami Marlins had fallen into sole possession of last place in the National League East, but enter the series with the Mets tied for fourth in the division with the Philadelphia Phillies. Since moving into a first place tie on June 3rd, the Marlins are a dismal 18-37. The New York Mets enter the series in third place in the N.L. East with a 53-56 record. The Mets are 9.5 games back for the final wild card spot and 13 games back of the Washington Nationals in the division. The Marlins and Mets will play night games on Tuesday and Wednesday before concluding the series with an early afternoon game on Thursday.
Season Series
New York leads 4-2. The Mets swept Miami in the Marlins’ only visit to Citi Field back in late April although the Marlins had a lead late in all three of those games. The Marlins took two of three from the Mets when New York came to South Florida in mid-May. Both Miami wins against the Mets this season, came on walk-off hits in the 9th inning.
Reyes’ Hitting Streak Longest in Majors This Season
Marlins’ shortstop Jose Reyes has hit in every game since the All-Star break which makes the streak now 24 games in a row. His 4th inning single on Sunday extended the hitting streak to 24 games which is the longest streak in the majors this season. During the streak, Reyes has raised his average 24 points from .264 to .288 and more than doubled his home run total. Reyes still needs to hit in 11 more games just to tie Luis Castillo’s club-record of 35 set back in 2002.
Bonifacio on the Shelf Again
Miami’s entire Opening Day outfield is on the disabled list after Emilio Bonifacio suffered a thumb injury in Miami’s 5-2 win over Washington on Friday night. Bonifacio missed significant time earlier this season with a similar injury and has been placed on the 15-day disabled list joining Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton. Bonifacio is hitting .261 this year for Miami and had managed to move into a first place tie in the National League with 30 stolen bases despite missing nearly two months of the season to injury.
Pitching Matchups
Tuesday – Wade LeBlanc (MIA) 1-1, 1.35 ERA vs. Jonathon Niese (NYM) 8-5, 3.72 ERA
Wednesday – Nate Eolvaldi (MIA) 2-7, 4.66 ERA vs. Chris Young (NYM) 3-5, 4.22 ERA
Thursday – Josh Johnson (MIA) 7-7, 3.85 ERA vs. R.A. Dickey (NYM) 14-3, 2.82 ERA
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