Florida Marlins to face the Chicago Cubs in a four-game series – MLB Preview
National League’s Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs will face each other in a four-game series at Wrigley Field, Chicago on July 14.
The first half of the season was really frustrating for the Marlins as they were able to win only one out of 20 games and went down in the MLB rankings. Due to their last five victories, the Marlins had managed to enter the All-Star break. Now they are willing
to win their sixth straight game by crushing the Cubs at Chicago but the overall Win-Loss record of the Marlins during the first half of the regular season was 43-48.
The Marlins’ manager, Jack McKeon commented on his team’s assurance for the future series and said, “They enjoy coming to the ballpark and not worrying about being 1-15 or losing eight or nine in a row. They're all confident. They're looking like they're
believing and starting to do the little things.”
Before the starting of June, the Marlins had a worst Win-Loss record of 1-19 after losing the series against the Philadelphia Phillies, but they recovered it a little bit by defeating the minnows. The Marlins are still 14 games behind the Phillies and they
require a solid start during the second half of the regular season.
Anibal Sanchez, who will hopefully start for the Marlins, had an amazing Win-Loss record of 6-2 in the last week and pitched the ball with an ERA of 3.58. Sanchez was little bit shaky in the last two starts as he permitted 12 runs in his seven inning pitches.
He was unable to maintain his 2.17 ERA, which helped in the Marlins’ wins during the last month.
On the other side, the Cubs had the worst Win-Loss record compared to the Marlins as they went through 37-55. The Cubs faced many sweeps in their lone series as their batters and pitchers did not perform well and were out of touch during these weeks.
The Cubs’ manager, Mike Quade is confident of having a better performance from his team during the second half of the regular season. Speaking to reporters, Quade said, “It hasn't been a great first half for us, obviously, but these guys do play and they
don't quit. Sometimes we don't get it done, sometimes there are things we can't overcome, but they play.”
Matt Garza will act as a starting pitcher for the Cubs, although he had not a satisfying performance in his last two starts, but another chance will be given to him to re-sound his form. In the last game against the Washington Nationals, Garza permitted
seven runs on his respective pitches.
He had not an exemplary record with his pitching against the Marlins but now he is willing to accept the new challenge. On June 18, 2010, Garza was very expensive as he allowed seven runs over just a single inning pitched while throwing for the Tampa Bay
Rays.
However, in tomorrow’s game, he has to be careful while pitching Logan Morrison and Emilio Bonifacio, who had finest batting average and hitting streak in the last 12 games.
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