Marlins vs Rays: Game 44 Thread

A great evil seeps down from the north. Like the Angel of Death snaking her cool, wispy fingers around the throats of every firstborn, steely-eyed soldiers clad in gray uniforms march into Marlins Park as we speak to stake their claim to the Sunshine State. These men, these Devil Rays...they want Florida to themselves. And they would have it, if not for these valorous men in orange and black -- and is that a slight hint of teal I detect -- that oppose them.

They. will. not. have it.

Besides, I read somewhere that Marlins eat Rays, or something to that effect. I think it was on Reddit. Maybe.

Pitching Match-up

Matt Moore was looking like he was heading toward's becoming a potential front of the rotation arm before the dreaded Tommy John surgery derailed him for much of '14-'15. In fact, he re-debuted right around the same time as Jose Fernandez was returning from his TJ surgery. The results have not been the same, however, as Moore has struggled to duplicate the results from earlier in his career. One thing that has to be encouraging for Rays fans is that his fastball velocity, initially down in 2015, has returned to a level slightly better than his 2013 pre-TJ averages (almost 93 MPH).

You can almost certainly mark down Wei-Yin Chen for two, three runs on six hits through six innings, fanning roughly four batters, walking none. The man is other worldly consistent (don't blame me if he isn't today, though. Blame baseball). Due to his time in the AL East with Baltimore, Chen is most definitely familiar with some of the longer time Rays in their lineup (and they, familiar with him).

Ichiro! starts for the third straight game as Christian Yelich continues to battle back spasms. Realmuto returns to the line-up and bats in the three hole, Chris Johnson mans first base and will bat seventh, and Miguel Rojas garners a start at second base, spelling Dietrich.

Bold Prediction: Marlins beat Rays 8-2.