Marlins Begin West Coast Road Trip With Opportunity To Be Playoff Spoiler
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Once in the National League wild-card race, the Miami Marlins have faded after dropping seven of their last 10 games. Despite taking two out of three at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Marlins sit 7.5 games behind the San Diego Padres for the third and final wild-card spot.
After walking off the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon on an Agustin Ramírez home run at loanDepot park, Miami hit the road for a six-game road trip out West against the two teams battling for the final playoff spot, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Padres. Miami's elimination number is five from the wild card, and they could be eliminated before they return home. However, with bleak playoff odds, Clayton McCullough's team can play spoiler against both teams.
Marlins Look To Play Spoiler Against Diamondbacks and Padres
Not too long ago, this road trip might have been circled as one that could have made or broken the Marlins' playoff chances. They still have a chance mathematically, but it's a slim one. However, against Arizona, which is 2.5 games behind San Diego, Miami will roll out their top pitcher to begin the series. Here are the pitching matchups against Arizona.
Monday: Sandy Alcantara (13-10, 3.78 ERA) vs. Corbin Burnes (0-0, 0.00 ERA), 9:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Janson Junk (6-9, 4.54 ERA) vs. Michael Soroka (8-5, 3.53 ERA), 9:40 p.m.
Wednesday: Ryan Gusto (1-5, 4.14 ERA) vs. Merrill Kelly (9-13, 4.97 ERA), 9:40 p.m.
Miami will have Alcantara pitch in the first game of the series, followed by Junk and Gusto. Burnes will be making just his second start of the season for Arizona on Monday night before sending out Soroka and Kelly, two veterans, to close out the series.
As for San Diego, the Padres are the hottest team in baseball, winners of seven straight games after sweeping the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. They have a series this week in Colorado against the struggling Rockies, who were swept over the weekend by the Detroit Tigers after being swept by the New York Yankees in the Bronx last week.
Despite still being alive, the chances are slim, at best, for the Marlins to make the playoffs, but they still have something to play for on the road trip: to be a spoiler to the two teams fighting for the last postseason berth in the National League. This is also an opportunity for players to make their case to be part of the Miami roster in 2027 and beyond.
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