The Miami Marlins will close out the first half with a weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Miami is coming off of an exciting series win over the Milwaukee Brewers and has won three of the last four games it has played. The Marlins have played better ball since the beginning of June and now sit at 39-56 on the season. The Phillies are 52-40 and have also won three of their last four games.
Wei-Yen Chen will start in the series opener for the Marlins and will be looking for his third win of the season. Chen was knocked around for seven runs in his last outing against the Washington Nationals. The veteran gave up a home run in that loss and has now served up 11 homers on the year. Prior to his last outing, Chen had been put together two straight great starts.
Trevor Richards has seen his E.R.A rise each month and July has been no exception. Richards will start the middle game of the series and will bring a 5.24 E.R.A into the contest. The rookie allowed nine runs combined in his last three starts and has only lasted five innings once. Richards has a 6.23 E.R.A in July thus far and opposing batters are hitting 0.361 against him.
Jose Urena had a long first half and will try to avoid a tenth loss in Sunday's series finale. Urena is 2-9 with a 4.13 E.R.A this season, after beginning the season as Miami's Opening Day starter. The right-hander has had a number of good starts but has been the victim of poor run support on multiple occasions.
Philadelphia has a potent lineup and some solid pitching, as well. The Phillies will be using some of their best arms in the series and Miami's lineup will be tested. J.T. Realmuto is one player to watch in Friday's contest, as he has solid career numbers against Phillies' starter Jake Arrieta.
The series with the Phillies will get underway on Friday at 7:10 p.m.
