Marlins Looking For Back To Back Wins Over Pirates
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PITTSBURGH (CBSMiami) - The Miami Marlins are riding a hot streak with wins in nine of their last 12 games thanks to a pitching staff that allowed three or fewer runs eight times in that span.
The Marlins will try to follow up a convincing win and clinch at least a tie of the four-game series when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
Edinson Volquez followed up his no-hitter with seven scoreless innings as Miami (26-33) cruised to a 7-1 win in the series opener and moved one step closer to getting back to .500. Center fielder Christian Yelich snapped out of a slump with a pair of doubles in the win - matching his extra-base hit total from the previous 12 games - while driving in a run and scoring one.
The Pirates are losers of three straight and six of their last eight games due in large part to a pitching staff that is allowing an average of 5.4 runs in that span. Pittsburgh will try to get a better effort on Friday when it sends struggling right-hander Tyler Glasnow to the mound to oppose veteran Marlins righty Vance Worley.
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Vance Worley (0-2, 6.59 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Tyler Glasnow (2-5, 6.97)
Worley suffered through his worst outing of the season last time out when he was rocked for five runs on six hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. The California native is making his fourth start - fifth appearance - since joining the Marlins and is still looking for his first win and first quality start. Worley pitched for the Pirates in 2014 and 2015 and is facing his former team for the first time since leaving in the 2015-2016 offseason.
Glasnow is getting a long leash in his rookie campaign but is not doing much to hold onto the rotation spot with losses in four of his last six outings. The former top prospect was knocked around for a total of nine runs and 13 hits over 10 innings in losses to the Mets in his last two turns and yielded three home runs at New York on Saturday. Glasnow is getting his first career look at the Marlins.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates LF Gregory Polanco went 0-for-4 on Thursday - the third time in four games he failed to record a hit.
2. Marlins INF Derek Dietrich went 3-for-4 on Thursday to match his hit total from the previous six games.
3. Pittsburgh recalled RHP Dovydas Neverauskas from Triple-A Indianapolis prior to the series opener.
PREDICTION: Pirates 6, Marlins 5
By Gracenote
