Marlins at Rockies
The visiting Miami Marlins look to clinch the season series with the Colorado Rockies for the seventh straight year when the teams meet in the finale of a three-game set on Sunday afternoon. J.T. Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a grand slam Saturday to improve his career batting average against the Rockies to .360 as Miami snapped a three-game slide with a 6-2 triumph.
Derek Dietrich also homered for the Marlins on Saturday and is batting .384 with five blasts and nine RBIs since May 31 while Miami rookie Brian Anderson takes a team-best 20-game on-base streak into the series finale. Caleb Smith, who beat Colorado with seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts on April 29, gets the start for the Marlins on Sunday against German Marquez - 0-2 in his career versus Miami. The Rockies saw their dominant four-game winning streak, in which they scored 37 times, come to an end after managing just four hits in Saturday’s setback. Carlos Gonzalez brings an eight-game hitting streak into Sunday’s game and Charlie Blackmon has hit safely in five straight for Colorado, which has lost three of five to the Marlins this year.
TV: 3:10 p.m. ET, FS Florida (Miami), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LH Caleb Smith (5-6, 4.03 ERA) vs. Rockies RH German Marquez (5-7, 5.20)
Smith was held out of a decision in each of his last two starts, allowing seven runs and 14 hits over 10 1/3 innings, after winning three of the previous four. The 26-year-old Sam Houston State product had yielded two or fewer runs in seven of nine starts before his last two outings and boasts 87 strikeouts across 76 innings overall. Smith, who meets Colorado for the second time in his career, owns a 4.89 ERA on the road as opposed to 3.13 at home this year.
Marquez snapped a three-game winless stretch by limiting the New York Mets to four runs and six hits over six innings during a 10-8 victory last Tuesday. The 23-year-old Venezuela native completed at least six innings in five of his last six starts after accomplishing that in three of his first nine outings in 2018. Lewis Brinson is 1-for-2 with a double versus Marquez, who gave up three runs (one earned) on six hits over six innings in the 4-1 setback at Miami on April 28.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colorado 3B Nolan Arenado saw his four-game home run streak come to an end Saturday, but is 10-for-21 in his last five contests.
2. Miami RHP Kyle Barraclough has gone a career-best 17 2/3 innings without giving up a run (18 appearances).
3. Rockies 1B-OF Ian Desmond has worked eight walks in his last four games, scoring five times in that stretch.