Miami Marlins Series Preview: Boston Red Sox

Miami Marlins (35-48) at Boston Red Sox (39-45)

Tuesday July 7th to Wednesday July 8th

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Game Details

Tuesday

7:10 P.M. E.T.

TV: FSN-Florida

Radio: 940 AM WINZ, WAQI 710

Probable Starters:

MIA- Dan Haren (6-5) 3.45 ERA

BOS- Wade Miley (8-7) 4.53 ERA

Wednesday

7:10 P.M. E.T.

TV: FSN-Florida

Radio: 940 AM WINZ, WAQI 710

Probable Starters:

MIA- Tom Koehler (7-4) 3.52 ERA

BOS- Rick Porcello (4-9) 6.08 ERA

Overview:

The Marlins wrap up a five game road-trip this week in Boston, with a short two game series against the Red Sox. The Marlins come off a three-game set against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, in which the team lost two out of three games.

The Fish took the opening game of the series Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field courtesy of homeruns by Justin Bour and Christian Yelich. The Cubs would bounce back Saturday to win 7-2 after Kris Bryant belted two homers, one of which was a grand slam. Despite holding Chicago to just three hits Sunday, the Marlins still lost 2-0 after a dominant performance by Kyle Hendricks.

Jarred Cosart returned to the rotation for the Marlins on Saturday but was quickly replaced by David Phelps after just one and two-thirds innings. He allowed two homeruns to Cubs' rookie Kris Bryant including a grand slam in the second inning. Cosart dropped his season ERA to 5.36, and now has a WHIP of 1.368.

The Marlins are hitting .256/.305/.388 in inter-league games this season, with the club having already faced the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, and Orioles from the American League. The Marlins' pitching staff has an ERA of 4.68 against American League teams this year, while also posting a WHIP of 1.423 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 1.81.

The Marlins may officially become sellers as the trade-deadline approaches, as the team is currently eleven and a half games back of first place in the NL East entering this series in Boston. The Fish have a record of 20-24 away from Marlins Park this season.

The Boston Red Sox are extremely hot entering this quick two-game set with the Marlins. After taking two out of three from the AL West leading Astros this weekend, the Red Sox have now won three straight series.

GM Ben Cherington made it a priority to spend big this off-season to improve the Red Sox offense by signing big market players Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez each to massive multi-year contracts. Fortunately for them, the Sox offense has been their strong suit this season with the team hitting .257/.323/.400 on the season. Boston's batting average and on-base percentage each rank in the top-five in the American League.

However, the Red Sox will likely need to make an upgrade at the trade-deadline to a starting rotation that has severely struggled this season. Boston has a rotation ERA of 4.76, which ranks 27th in the MLB. Rick Porcello has been a huge disappointment for the Red Sox after they gave him an $18 million extension before the season started. Porcello posts a 6.03 ERA this season and a WHIP of 1.405. Porcello gave up seven earned runs in his last start against the Blue Jays.

The Red Sox have climbed back to just six games under .500 after a horrid start to the season. However, Boston still remains six games out of first place in the AL East, although they are surely still in the hunt.