Series Preview: Marlins at Mets

The Miami Marlins will start a four-game series against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Monday.

After finishing the home portion of the schedule on Sunday, the Marlins will be on the road for the final seven games of the season. New York remains in contention for a Wild-Card spot, but has an elimination number of three. If the Marlins win even one game in the series, they could put an end to New York's playoff hopes.

Miami has lost five of seven and it has fallen to 54-101 overall on the season. The Marlins need one more victory this season, in order to avoid tying a franchise record low in wins. The 1998 Florida Marlins went 54-108 and that mark remains the worst in franchise history.

Caleb Smith will start for the Marlins on Monday and will try to continue his 2019 success against the Mets. Smith has taken on New York twice this year and he has allowed only four runs in 11 innings pitched. The lefty has seen his strikeout numbers take a hit lately, but that could be due in part to a tired arm. Smith has thrown a career-high 144.1 innings in 2019, after only hurling 77.1 in 2018.

Sandy Alcantara has also set a career-high in innings pitched and he will add to that on Tuesday. Alcantara's 184.1 innings set a franchise record for a rookie pitcher and he also was Miami's All-Star this season. Alcantara could open the 2020 season as Miami's ace. but he still has another one or two starts to go in 2019. The right-hander has faced the Mets twice this season and he has held them to ten runs in 25.2 innings.

Robert Dugger's season will come to an end on Wednesday when he starts for Miami. Dugger faced the Mets in his big-league debut back in early August and it was a rough one for him. Dugger allowed six runs in five innings and he was tagged with the loss in the game. The 24-year old is 0-3 and he will be looking for his first career win in this one.

Jordan Yamamoto will wrap up his rookie season in Thursday's series finale. Yamamoto begin his big-league career with historic numbers, but he has had trouble replicating those results recently. Yamamoto has only lasted eight innings total across his last two starts and he allowed eight runs during that brief time. The 23-year old is a contender for a spot in Miami's 2020 rotation and this will be his second career start against New York.