Marlins Look To Get Back On Track With Sox Series At Home
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The Chicago White Sox have seen their once-promising season teeter toward the brink of disaster and the Miami Marlins are looking to prevent something similar from happening to them. With wins in just three of nine contests this month, Miami attempts to get back on track in the opener of a three-game series with visiting Chicago on Friday.
The Marlins aren't shy about entertaining every possibility to increase their offense, as they reportedly had internal discussions about pushing all their chips to the center of the table in a bid to sign veteran Alex Rodriguez - who will be released by the New York Yankees on Friday.
The Marlins, who have totaled just two runs and nine hits in their last two outings, are one-half game ahead of St. Louis for the second wild-card spot in the National League. Chicago hasn't done itself any favors for the same slot in the American League by dropping two in a row and seven of 10.
Tim Anderson, who is riding a five-game hitting streak, notched a pair of singles and scored the White Sox's lone run in a 2-1 setback against Kansas City on Thursday.
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox Carlos Rodon (2-8, 4.49 ERA) vs. Marlins Andrew Cashner (4-8, 4.96)
Rodon saw his winless streak reach nine starts on Saturday despite allowing just two runs and five hits in six innings of a no-decision versus Baltimore. The less-than-stellar results notwithstanding, the 23-year-old has worked between five and 6 1/3 frames in each outing of that stretch. Rodon will be making his 45th appearance on Friday and first versus Miami since being selected with the third overall pick of the 2014 draft.
Cashner made a brief cameo by facing one batter in Miami's 14-inning game versus San Francisco on Monday, two days removed from a brutal outing in Colorado. While making just his second start since being acquired from San Diego, the 29-year-old allowed seven runs and eight hits in five frames of a 12-6 setback to the Rockies. Cashner has made a pair of relief appearances versus Chicago in his career, and he was saddled with the loss in the last encounter after yielding one run in two innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Miami OF Christian Yelich has recorded 15 hits, 10 RBIs and five runs scored in August.
2. The White Sox are paying a visit to Marlins Park for the first time in franchise history.
3. In a bid to limit RHP Jose Fernandez's workload, Miami elected to skip the ace's turn in the rotation and shuffle RHP Tom Koehler to start Sunday's game against Chicago LHP Chris Sale.
PREDICTION: Marlins 3, White Sox 2
By SportsDirect Inc.
