Marlins Can Sweep Brewers With Wednesday Win
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MILWAUKEE (CBSMiami/AP) – Things aren't all bad for the Miami Marlins, at least over the past week.
With a franchise-record sixth straight losing season seemingly inevitable, the Marlins have been getting some production from Ichiro Suzuki, Adeiny Hechavarria and Cole Gillespie.
They'll try to lead the Marlins to their first road sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in nine years Wednesday.
Miami (49-70) has followed a 2-13 stretch by winning six of eight, scoring 5.9 runs per game in that span - 2.2 higher than its season mark.
The Marlins have totaled 15 runs in taking the first two games of this series, collecting 13 hits in Tuesday's 9-6 victory.
They last swept the Brewers (48-68) in three games May 6-8, 2008, but this would be their first time doing it at Miller Park since Sept. 1-3, 2006.
Suzuki turned in his first four-hit performance since July 28, 2013, on Tuesday. He's batting .353 in 15 games after posting a .105 average over the previous 10.
"As I've said, this guy's a Hall of Famer for a reason," manager Dan Jennings said. "He shows no signs of slowing down. It's great to see him out there picking us up in key spots and having the at-bats that he's having."
Hechavarria is looking to extend his career-high hitting streak to 13 games, which would match Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna for the team high this year. The shortstop has a .362 average in that stretch after collecting four hits in this series.
Gillespie is hitting .455 in nine games after getting two hits Tuesday, including a bases-clearing triple in the first.
The Marlins' Tom Koehler (8-10, 3.68 ERA) has lost four straight starts with a 6.17 ERA. The right-hander, though, hasn't been entirely awful over that stretch, yielding two runs in seven innings of Friday's 3-1 loss at St. Louis while not getting any runs of support for the second time in three games.
"You want to go deep," Koehler told MLB's official website. "You want to give your team a chance."
He's 0-1 with a 9.75 ERA in three games against the Brewers, failing to reach the sixth in two starts.
The Brewers, last in the NL Central, are giving the ball to Wily Peralta (3-7, 4.07), who is looking to build on his best performance since returning from a strained left oblique that sidelined him for nearly two months.
The right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia on Friday after going 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in his first three starts back.
"I'm feeling better and better each start," Peralta said. "I feel really strong."
That's certainly been true when facing the Marlins, against whom he's 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA in five career starts, including a 0.87 ERA in the last three.
He's allowed one run in 14 2-3 innings over two games at Miller Park, winning the most recent 4-1 on Sept. 10.
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