Marlins Off to Fast Start; Look to Sweep Padres

The Miami Marlins, who have had a terrible run the last few seasons, are off to a good start this year. They took three of four in their opening series with the Colorado Rockies and have taken the first two of a three game set with the San Diego Padres. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton is off to a great start, getting several big hits especially in the late innings to help them win games. Ace starter  Jose Fernandez is 2-0 after beating the Rockies on Opening Day 10-1 and beating the Padres last night going into the seventh inning allowing only three hits and two walks. Stanton ended the game 2-5 with two RBIs. He put the Marlins up 1-0 with a single that scored Fernandez in the bottom of the third. He then drove in another run with a double in the bottom of the seventh to score Christian Yelich. Yelich had an RBI single in the eighth to close out the scoring when Derek Dietrich scored.

While the Marlins have yet to go on the road, and six games barely puts a dent in the 162 game schedule. it should be noted that they got their fifth win last season in their 21st game. They went on to a 62-100 record. So while they have yet to play a road game there is good reason to be optimistic. An 81-81 season would be welcome news in Miami after the last few seasons. With their 5-1 record they lead the Atlanta Braves by only a half game as they have started at 4-1. Atlanta took two of three from the Milwaukee Brewers and has now beaten the Washington Nationals twice in a row. The Nats are 3-2 after sweeping the New York Mets in a three game series to start the season. The Philadelphia Phillies are also 3-2 having lost two of their first three to the Texas Rangers but then beating the Chicago Cubs in the first two games of their series. The Mets are now 2-3 after beating the Cincinnati Reds twice in a row.

So today, four of the five teams in the National League East will be going for a sweep. Here is today’s schedule;

San Diego at Miami– Ian Kennedy will pitch for the Padres while the Marlins counter with Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi is 1-0 while Kennedy is 0-1.

Atlanta at Washington– Alex Wood at 1-0 starts for the Braves and Taylor Jordan makes his first start for the Nats.

Cincinnati at New York– Alfredo Sirrdan starts for the Reds while Johnatna Neies goes for the Mets. Both are 0-0.

Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs– A. J. Burnett starts for the Phils and Carlos Villanueva goes for the Cubs. Villanueva is already 0-2 as he has been used out of the bulpen.