Marlins Aim To Take Both Home Games Against Visiting Yankees
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – Despite their difference in record, the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees aren't that dissimilar this season.
The four principles in December's five-player trade between the Yankees and Marlins have done fine, but none of them has performed so well as to distinguish a clear winner in the deal so far.
Two of them will take the mound Tuesday night when David Phelps leads the host Marlins against Nathan Eovaldi and the Yankees in the second and final game of the series.
New York sent Phelps and infielder Martin Prado to Miami for Eovaldi, first baseman Garrett Jones and pitching prospect Domingo German on Dec. 19.
Phelps, Prado, Eovaldi and Jones have been solid in their roles for their new teams, though none has turned in a standout season. Phelps (3-3, 4.11 ERA) will be looking to beat the team that drafted him in the 14th round in 2008 and for which he pitched his first three seasons, going 15-14 with a 4.21 ERA in 87 games - 40 starts - from 2012-14.
The right-hander rebounded from a brutal effort June 6 in which he allowed nine runs and 11 hits in 3 2-3 innings of a 10-5 loss at Colorado by pitching a career-high eight innings of four-hit ball in a 6-0 victory over the Rockies on Thursday.
Eovaldi (5-1, 4.13) threw seven-plus innings of three-run ball in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Washington on Wednesday. He was in line for the win but the bullpen couldn't hold a two-run lead. Eovaldi, 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last four starts, went 13-27 with a 4.10 ERA from 2012-14 with the Marlins.
The right-hander is 0-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 12 starts in interleague play and 6-14 with a 4.12 mark at Marlins Park.
"It would work out that way," Phelps said of opposing Eovaldi.
Miami (28-37) took the series opener 2-1 on Monday for its fourth win in five games. Tom Koehler pitched seven innings and Derek Dietrich hit his first home run to put the Marlins ahead for good.
"That was the loudest I've heard in this stadium," closer A.J. Ramos said of a conflicted Marlins Park that contained large numbers of Yankees fans. "I kind of took it in. You've got to take those moments in. I was like, `Man, this is really cool.'"
New York (34-29) lost for the fourth time in five games. Mark Teixeira hit his 18th homer but the Yankees managed a season-low three hits, two by Didi Gregorius.
"Really good defensive plays on their part," manager Joe Girardi said. "I though we actually swung the bats pretty good, and really didn't have much to show for it."
Alex Rodriguez flew out to end the game as a pinch-hitter in his Miami homecoming, remaining five hits shy of 3,000. New York finished the night out of first place in the AL East for the first time since May 25.
"Got a good pitch to hit, and just popped it straight up," said Rodriguez, playing in his hometown for the first time since 2009. He's not expected to start Tuesday's contest either.
Teixeira is batting .429 during a six-game hitting streak.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran was held out of the starting lineup because of a sore hamstring. He pinch-hit in the eighth and struck out.
Prado, batting .272 with four home runs and 14 RBIs, sat out Monday with a sore right shoulder and a stint on the disabled list hasn't been ruled out.
Ex-Yankee Ichiro Suzuki had two hits Monday and has gone 3 for 5 in the last two games.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)