Milwaukee @ Florida preview
Sun Life Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 4, 2009 ) Milwaukee 3, Florida 4
The Florida Marlins may have snapped their losing streak, but they’re still having trouble locating their offense.
The Marlins will be looking to take advantage of the Milwaukee Brewers' pitching staff when the teams open up a four-game series on Monday.
Florida snapped a four-game slide with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, pushing across the lone run when Ronny Paulino plated Hanley Ramirez from second with a single to left.
Including Sunday, the Marlins have recorded just nine runs total in their last five games and have managed three runs or less in eight of the last 10. They were also the unfortunate victims of Roy Halladay’s perfect game on Saturday night.
Ramirez went 1-for-10 with four strikeouts in the three-game series against the Phillies, and fellow All-Star Dan Uggla is just 5-for-41 over the last 10 games.
The Brewers are coming off a 10-4 loss to the New York Mets on Sunday in which their bullpen let them down again, allowing the final eight runs after a five-inning stint from starter Randy Wolf.
Milwaukee owns the second-worst bullpen in the National League with a 5.70 ERA and a .296 batting average against. The rotation hasn’t been much better, ranking 14th in the league with a 4.80 ERA and tied for last with 20 quality starts.
The faulty pitching was behind a nine-game losing streak earlier this month and is the key reason the Brewers remain eight games below .500. All of this despite an offense that is tied for second in the NL with 248 runs scored.
The Brewers will send converted reliever Chris Narveson to the mound in the series opener. The 28-year-old left-hander made nine relief appearances for Milwaukee this season before moving into the rotation on April 28.
Things started out fine for Narveson, as he went 2-0 with a 3.78 ERA in his first three starts. Then it took a turn for the worse has he posted a 1-2 mark and a 6.32 ERA in his last three turns. Narveson reached a low on Wednesday when the struggling Houston Astros tagged him for four runs and eight hits in four innings.
The Marlins will counter with veteran left-hander Nate Robertson. After being banished by the Detroit Tigers at the end of spring training, Robertson has fit in fine so far in South Florida, though the Marlins would probably appreciate a few more innings.
Robertson has issued 25 walks in 53 1/3 innings this season and has yet to make it through seven frames in 10 outings. His last start was encouraging, however, as he allowed an unearned run and two hits while walking two and striking out five against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.