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The Miami Marlins have dug themselves into a giant hole, as they’ve lost 7 of their last 10 games, and during this losing streak, the Marlins are all of a sudden 3.0 games out of the second NL Wild Card, which was certainly not where they wanted to be considering where they were a few weeks ago.
However, the Marlins have a valid excuse, as they’ve seen key pitchers and vital parts of their lineup get bit by the injury bug. Miami just lost three of four games to the New York Mets, with the one win coming on Thursday evening, which snapped a five-game losing streak.
The Marlins are trying to regroup, and it won’t get any easier for Miami when they take the field this weekend. Miami will take on the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians, who are looking to continue on its path to the postseason. The Indians are currently ahead of the Detroit Tigers by 4 ½ games for the lead in the AL Central. Cleveland is coming off a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins. These two teams will be facing off for the first time this season, and this is the final interleague series of the year for both squads.
The Marlins, who already don’t have Giancarlo Stanton and Justin Bour for likely the rest of the season, will be without All-Star outfielder Marcell Ozuna for the foreseeable future. Ozuna sprained his left wrist on Wednesday against the Mets, when he made a diving catch. While Ozuna and Stanton are out, the Marlins will look to their other starting outfielder, Christian Yelich, to continue to put the team on his back.
| Team | Pitcher | ERA | FIP | Zips Projected ERA |
| MIA | Andrew Cashner | 4.73 | 4.78 | 4.27 |
| CLE | Carlos Carrasco | 3.23 | 3.81 | 3.53 |
Yelich has now homered in three straight games, which is the longest streak of home runs in his career. Miami will send Andrew Cashner to the mound tonight, as he looks to shake off some of his recent struggles. In five starts with the Marlins, Cashner has posted a 1.43 WHIP, while allowing 15 homers and striking out 84 batters. Cashner will look to pick up his first win in a Marlins uniform. The Indians will counter with Carlos Carrasco, who has posted a record of 9-7 with a WHIP of 1.10.
Bold Prediction: Marlins squeak past Indians, 3-2