Diamondbacks at Marlins
The offensively inept Marlins look to break a six-game losing streak when they host Arizona in the second of a three-game series. Miami is hitting .150 as a team during the skid, and star third baseman Hanley Ramirez is hitless in his last 23 at-bats. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who his a team-high 34 homers last year, has gone a career-long 93 at-bats without one dating to last season. Jose Reyes, the 2011 National League batting champion who was one of the team's big off-season acquisitions, is batting .205 and was given the night off Friday.
Arizona, meanwhile, is back at .500 after winning 5-0 in the opener of a 10-game road trip. While the Marlins can’t buy a hit, the Diamondbacks Nos. 4-7 batters combined for 12 hits Friday.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Florida (Miami), FS Arizona
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks RH Ian Kennedy (3-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Anibal Sanchez (1-0, 2.79 ERA)
Arizona’s ace has won nine straight regular-season decisions. However, batters are hitting .301 against Kennedy, who has yielded at least three earned runs in three of his four starts. He has struggled against Miami’s Gaby Sanchez (4-for-10, homer) and Omar Infante (5-for-11). Kennedy is 2-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three career starts versus the Marlins.
Sanchez has fanned 19 batters in 19 1/3 innings this season, walking only four. Opponents are hitting .213 against him. In five career starts against Arizona, he’s 3-1 with a 3.71 ERA, including a complete-game shutout.
WALK-OFFS
1. At 7-12, Miami has the NL’s third-worst record.
2. Arizona’s Jason Kubel got his sixth four-hit game Friday. He last did it on consecutive days for Minnesota on April 17-18, 2009.
3. Diamondbacks first baseman Lyle Overbay is hitting .308 after a 3-for-3 performance Friday.