Last night the Marlins evened their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 7-5 win. Miami got off to the fast start with a pair of two-run homers in the first inning off of Patrick Corbin, each coming off the bat of left-handers. Christian Yellich pulverized the first one 400-some-odd feet and Justin Bour connected later in the inning to tie him for the National League home run lead with 16.
The Diamondbacks didn’t go quietly and eventually tied the game at five. Paul Goldschmidt hit his 13th homer of the season as he continues to pace toward a 30-30 season.
But then Giancarlo Stanton hit a pop-up down the right field line in the fifth inning. It only traveled 354 feet but it gave the Fish the lead for good and made Stanton the franchise’s all-time RBI leader with 579. Who did he pass? You might ask. That would be Mike Lowell.
These teams will play two more over the weekend and I’m counting on more offense to come.
Free Pick
This evening’s starting pitching matchup features Randall Delgado against Edinson Volquez.
Giancarlo Stanton
Delgado came to Arizona from Atlanta as a somewhat seasoned prospect in a Justin Upton deal years ago but he hasn’t blossomed into the front-end starter some in the Arizona organization bet on him becoming. Instead, the Diamondbacks have been primarily using him out of the bullpen, where he’s been effective.
Delgado has made two starts this season, though, the most recent in place of Taijuan Walker, who is dealing with a blister on his throwing hand. Delgado got within one out of getting through the sixth inning before he was lifted after 92 pitches. His final line in that one: 5.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run and 8 K’s without a walk.
That start came in Pittsburgh. Miami will be a little different with the way the Fish are swinging the bats. One through six, Miami’s lineup is more than formidable. In fact, leadoff man Dee Gordon has the lowest on-base percentage of the bunch at .339. The 7-8-9 guys are easy outs on paper but Delgado better get them because the lineup turns over easily.
Meanwhile, Volquez won his first game of the season earlier this week against Philadelphia after an 0-7 start. His WHIP and BAA are up this season in Miami while his 4.44 ERA matches his career mark, exactly.
The Diamondbacks’ offense doesn’t have a whole lot of names the casual fan will recognize but it is scoring runs night in and night out. Arizona has scored in all but one of its games and seems to always put up three or more.
Three runs is my lowest expectation of either team this evening. Both lineups are long and really grind down starting pitching. Neither Delgado nor Volquez has thrown more than six innings this season so both lineups will have three, four innings against bullpens that aren’t particularly strong. I have this total a full run higher than the books.
Free Pick: Over 8.5 (-115)
arizona diamondbacks • miami marlins • National League