Series Preview: Marlins at Braves

The Miami Marlins will be looking to halt a three-game skid when they visit the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.

Miami has lost six of the last seven games it has played and only has four wins total in the month of August. The Marlins have had difficulty keeping opponents off the scoreboard, following multiple trades in July. Miami moved a few major league arms prior to the trade deadline and the replacements have been struggling mightily.

The Marlins began to turn their season around after a historically bad start to 2019, but the team is now once again headed towards a potential 100-loss season. While Miami was not expected to compete this season, it has looked completely overmatched for long stretches of the year.

Elieser Hernandez had one of the worst appearances of his big-league career last time out and he will look to erase that memory on Tuesday. Hernandez allowed four home runs and six runs in six innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Hernandez did strikeout seven batters along the way, but was otherwise no match for the best team in baseball. Hernandez faced the Braves once this season and he shut them out for seven innings.

Caleb Smith will be in search of more efficiency when he pitches on Wednesday. Smith has not gone more than five innings in a start since July. The lefty is Miami's ace this year, but he has hit some stretches of inconsistency. Smith is 8-6 with a 3.63 E.R.A overall and has 131 strikeouts in 111.2 innings pitched. The 28-year old is 1-1 in three starts against the Braves in 2019. Atlanta has tagged Smith for 12 runs in 16.2 innings pitched this season.

Sandy Alcantara will be Miami's starter for Thursday's series finale. Alcantara has posted two straight solid starts and has a 4.35 E.R.A overall in 2019. While Alcantara's selection to the All-Star Game may have been controversial to some, the right-hander has been dominant at times this season. Alcantara has Miami's only complete game of the year and has put together nine quality starts along the way.

Isan Diaz came up to the big leagues with plenty of hype, but he has struggled thus far. The 23-year old who was a dominant force in AAA, has only hit .188 through 48 major league at-bats. Diaz has struck out 18 times already so far and has also had defensive issues. The second baseman already has been charged with three errors in his 12 games played.