Florida @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2010 ) Florida 2, Milwaukee 6
The Florida Marlins need to get hot if they want to finish with a winning record. Perhaps Chris Volstad can light a spark.
Coming off his best game of the season, Volstad (10-9, 4.82 ERA) takes the mound on Saturday night as the Marlins continue a four-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
Florida, which is 16 1/2 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, still has a chance to close out a third consecutive winning campaign to match a franchise high. However, the Marlins are limping to the finish line, having lost eight of 11 to fall to 76-77 on the season.
Volstad was fantastic last Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals, pitching a five-hitter on a season-high 118 pitches for his second career shutout. It was the fourth straight win for the 23-year-old Volstad, who also set a career high in wins with the effort.
Volstad recorded a no-decision against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 2, allowing a run and four hits in 5 2/3 frames. The right-hander, however, has struggled on the road, posting a 6.24 ERA.
Chris Narveson (11-8, 5.25 ERA) will try to keep the momentum going for Milwaukee, which has won three straight games with an offense that has posted 29 runs and 47 hits. Prior to the outburst, the Brewers were averaging 3.1 runs per game this month and batting .221.
Milwaukee pounded the Cincinnati Reds, 13-1, on Wednesday and opened this four-game set with an 8-3 thumping on Thursday.
The Brewers knocked out 13 more hits in Friday’s 6-2 win. Ryan Braun had two hits and three RBIs and Rickie Weeks added a pair of hits and scored twice for Milwaukee, which has split six games with Florida this season.
In the three games, Casey McGehee has collected nine hits and four RBIs and Weeks has seven hits, six runs and a homer. McGehee (99), Corey Hart (96) and Braun (96) are closing in on becoming the first Milwaukee trio to reach triple digits in RBIs since 1982.
Milwaukee’s starting pitching has been excellent in September, posting a 2.63 ERA in 21 games. Narveson was 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in his previous eight starts until getting waxed by the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. The left-hander was tagged for six runs and four hits with four walks in 4 2/3 innings.
Narveson didn’t fare well on May 31 against Florida, getting tagged for five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 frames in a 13-5 loss at Sun Life Stadium.