Marlins Look to Bounce Back Against Phillies

The Miami Marlins will try and rebound from a sweep when they host the Philadelphia Phillies beginning on Thursday.

The Marlins were swept by the first-place Washington Nationals in their last series and fell to 5.5 games behind the second Wild Card spot. The Phillies have the worst record in all of baseball, but have given the Marlins fits at times. To remain in contention, Miami will likely need to at least split this four-game series.

Prior to the aforementioned sweep, the Marlins had won seven of the last eight games they played. The run pushed Miami to three games over .500 and now the team finds itself with an even record once again. Falling below .500 is something the team will look to avoid in the series opening game.

Odrisamer Despaigne will make his second consecutive start and will try to continue his recent success. After coming out of the bullpen, Despaigne held the San Diego Padres to only one run in six innings of work. The right-hander exceeded expectations and lowered his E.R.A to 3.70 on the season.

Miami has Dan Straily listed as Friday's starter, but there have been reports of a possible promotion for the game. Prospect Dillon Peters was scratched in AA and appears likely to join Miami's rotation when the rosters expand on Friday. Peters dominated AA, but did not spend much time there overall. The lefty will likely be on a short leash in his major league debut.

Assuming Peters goes on Friday, that would push Straily back to Saturday. The right-hander is 8-8 with a 3.80 E.R.A this season. Straily has put together back-to-back quality starts and has not allowed more than three runs in over a month. Straily has appeared to be Miami's ace at times and the team will need another one of those performances in this game.

Jose Urena will take the ball for the season finale and will bring a team-leading 12 wins into the start. Urena has been Miami's other de facto ace at times this season, but stumbled in his last outing. Against the Nationals, Urena allowed four runs in four innings of work. It took Urena 94 pitches to get through the four innings and he'll need to be more efficient this time out.