Pittsburgh @ Miami preview
Marlins Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 13, 2014 ) Pittsburgh 8, Miami 6
Gregory Polanco may only have four games of major-league experience under his belt, but he is proving to be a quick study. The impressive rookie looks to build upon his first career five-hit effort on Saturday when his Pittsburgh Pirates continue their three-game set in Miami against the Marlins. One of the top prospects in baseball before his promotion, Polanco was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday after batting .347 with seven homers and 49 RBIs in 62 games with the Indians.
The 22-year-old scored three times and hit the tiebreaking two-run homer in the Pirates’ 13-inning series-opening victory – a game in which they gave up four runs in the ninth only to ride the hot bat of Polanco. While the Pirates (33-34) are one game shy of breaking the .500 mark for the first time since April 17, the Marlins have dropped five of their last seven at home after winning 20 of their first 27 in Miami. Rafael Furcal made his season debut in the opener for the Marlins, who promptly lost Christian Yelich after two innings due to a strained back.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), FSN Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Charlie Morton (3-7, 3.14 ERA) vs. Marlins LH Randy Wolf (1-2, 4.15)
Thanks in part to getting a couple of extra days off from his previous start, Morton won for the third time in four tries and registered one of the finest outings of his career during Monday’s 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The former Atlanta Braves’ farmhand allowed one run on six hits while fanning seven over seven frames and did not walk a batter for only the third time in 121 all-time starts. Morton won both of his outings versus the Marlins last year and is 4-3 with a 4.70 ERA in eight career turns against them.
Wolf will draw his fourth start since signing with the club in mid-May and looks to bounce back from a rough outing in a 5-2 loss to the Cubs last Saturday. The 37-year-old journeyman needed a season-high 109 pitches to make it through only 5 2/3 innings, giving up four runs – including his first two homers of the season – on nine hits and a walk. Wolf was tagged for six runs over six frames in his last start versus the Pirates in June 2012, dropping him to 9-4 with a 4.43 ERA in 20 all-time outings against them.
WALK-OFFS
1. Polanco needed only four games to post five hits and a home run in the same contest, breaking the major-league mark held by Mike Lansing, who pulled off the feat in his fifth career game in 1993.
2. Miami has lost eight of its last 10 against Pittsburgh.
3. Pirates C Russell Martin drew his 1,000th career start behind the plate in the opener, the fifth-highest total among active backstops.
PREDICTION: Pirates 5, Marlins 4