Streaking Marlins Begin Series With First-Place Nationals

The Miami Marlins will look to add to their four-game winning streak when they take on the Washington Nationals beginning on Monday.

Miami has won eight of the last ten games it has played and the team sits only 4.5 games back of the Wild Card. Washington is up by 12 games in the division, but has stumbled as of late. The Nationals have one of the finer pitching staffs in baseball, but their lineup has been hit with injuries as of late.

With the other Wild Card contenders winning lately as well, Miami has not gained any ground in recent days. There is still plenty of time to inch closer, but the Marlins may not be able to afford a series loss. Taking two of three from Washington will be easier said than done, especially with some of their better arms going in the games.

Giancarlo Stanton will continue to chase history, after blasting his 50th home run of the season on Sunday. Stanton has 17 homers in August and is now just one-shy of tying a Major League Baseball record. The most home runs ever hit in the month of August is 18 by Rudy York in 1937.

In the series opener, Miami will send ace Jose Urena to the mound. Urena is 12-5 this season and has a 3.68 E.R.A. The right-hander leads Miami's rotation in wins and been the biggest surprise of the season for the team. Urena began the year in the bullpen and has been a consistent source of production since joining the rotation.

Justin Nicolino will take the ball in the middle game of the series and this could prove to be a tough one for the Marlins. Nicolino struggled to the tune of six runs in 2.1 innings last time out. The lefty will need to turn that around and give Miami a chance in this game. Prior to that poor outing, Nicolino had turned in two solid performances in a row.

In the series finale, it will be Vance Worley's turn to start. Worley had been pitching well in August, but stumbled against Philadelphia in his last outing. Worley allowed eight runs in only four innings of work, but did not get tagged with the loss. Miami's bats made up for Worley's ineffectiveness with nine runs and lifted the team to a 9-8 victory.