Marlins Head to St. Louis for Series With Cardinals

The Miami Marlins will begin a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday at Busch Stadium.

Miami has only won four times in the last ten games it has played and the All-Star Game is quickly approaching. The All-Star break is looked at as important time of year for teams on the bubble. The Marlins will need a strong final week of the first half, or they could be nearing the trade deadline as sellers.

The Cardinals are right in the thick of things, in a heated National League Central battle. St. Louis is also alive in the Wild-Card standings, but could quickly find itself in trouble. Due to this, the four-game series will be equally important for the Cardinals.

Jeff Locke and his 0-4 record will get the ball for Miami in the series opener. Locke has been unable to last long thus far in his starts and he has taxed Miami's bullpen due to this. If Locke does not start stringing together productive starts, the Marlins may begin to look elsewhere. The lack of efficiency in Locke's starts causes problems for an entire series at times.

Jose Urena will make the start on Tuesday, as the Marlins look to lift his record to 7-3. Urena has been Miami's ace for much of the season and has put together four straight quality starts. With his 3.42 E.R.A., Urena has been able to keep Miami in the game during most of his starts.

As the series rolls on, Edinson Volquez will make a start on Wednesday. Volquez has two solid starts in a row himself and a 4-8 record overall on the season. Volquez has been inconsistent, but dominant at times as well. The veteran will need to try and watch his control and keep his walk total down. Volquez has walked 51 hitters in 88.1 innings this year and has a 1.39 WHIP.

In Thursday's series finale, Miami will give the ball to Tom Koehler. After spending time in AAA, Koehler returned to Miami's rotation for his last start. The right-hander ran into trouble and threw a team-record 50 pitches during his second inning of work. Koehler did not make it out of that inning and he will look for better results this time around.