Opposite Dugout: Rebuilding Marlins look to build off series win vs. Giants

marlins-logo.jpgManager: Don Mattingly (2nd season with Marlins)

Record: 26-43

Last 10 games: 6-4

Who to watch: RF/3B Brian Anderson (.304, 33 RBIs), 2B Starlin Castro (.282), 1B Justin Bour (10 HR, 29 RBIs), CF Lewis Brinson (26 RBIs), C J.T Realmuto (22 RBIs), RHP Kyle Barraclough (4 saves)

Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (2-1 in 2015)

Pitching probables:

June 15: RHP José Ureña (1-8) vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (3-5), 7:05 p.m., MASN2
June 16: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (1-3) vs. RHP Alex Cobb (2-8), 4:05 p.m., MASN2
June 17: RHP Trevor Richards (1-3) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (4-7), 1:05 p.m., MASN2

Inside the Marlins:

Coming into Friday evening's series opener at Camden Yards, the Marlins may be exhausted. After winning the first three matchups in their last series against the Giants, they Marlins lost in the 16th inning yesterday afternoon in a finale that took nearly five hours. Miami's longest winning streak this season is four games, about what you'd expect from a club that's been stripped barren as part of the rebuilding process. The Marlins rank last in the majors in home runs (52), slugging percentage (.353) and saves (13), and next-to-last in stolen bases (15) and total bases (831). Their offense has provided the least run support (3.51 runs per game) in the bigs. They're battling the Reds for the worst record in the National League.

Versatile Brian Anderson hit a game-winning sacrificed fly in the ninth inning Wednesday night to put them over of the Giants, giving him his team-high 33rd RBI. J.T. Realmuto had two hits and scored twice in the Marlins' third walk-off win of the 2018 season. Realmuto emerged over the last two seasons as one of the best and most athletic catchers in the majors and stepped into the starring role left by the trade of Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees in the offseason. Starlin Castro had two hits and got a run Wednesday versus the Giants; he's hitting .282 and adds a veteran presence to the infield. First baseman Justin Bour leads the Marlins with 10 homers. Rookie center fielder Lewis Brinson has been off to a slow start this season and is batting under .200, but he's showed flashes of his potential from time to time and has nine homers and 26 RBIs.

Hard-luck righty José Ureña, who starts Friday's opener, allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in six innings in his last start on June 10 in a loss against the Padres. In that game, he avoided issuing a walk for just the second time in his last seven outings. Prior to that, Ureña finally got his first win of the season on June 6, 68 days into the 2018 season. Former Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen's season hasn't gotten off to the best start. Chen, a member of the Orioles from 2012-2015, is currently sporting a 6.13 ERA in 39 innings, and his season was delayed by an elbow injury that cost him the first month of the campaign. Chen, who will take the hill Saturday, allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings in a no-decision on his last start on June 12 against the Giants, striking out five. Rookie right-hander Trevor Richards pitched a gem in his first major league win on June 13 against the Giants, allowing just two hits in six innings. None of the three Marlins starters in this series has ever faced the Orioles.

Closer Kyle Barraclough has recorded saves in back-to-back games this week. He has put together 15 consecutive appearances without allowing a run since May 11. Since being elevated to the closer's role on May 31, the righty is 3-for-3 in save chances and has four overall.

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