Braves, Mets hot in NL East
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Miami Marlins
Miami is 1-9 in its last ten games; that is never good and something a young team does not want to see happen too often. The good news is that the Marlins did find a way to beat Stephen Strasburg. They scored six runs on eight hits in only four innings off the former number one draft pick on Tuesday night. Wednesday was back to the losing ways as Miami lost its fifth game in six tries against Washington.
Left fielder Christian Yelich leads the team over the past week with a .345 batting average. He has found success right away this season for the last place Marlins and could command a long-term contract next off-season if Miami wants to try lock him up alongside Giancarlo Stanton. Speaking of Stanton, he is still crushing the baseball and hit a moonshot that traveled an estimated 457 feet off of Strasburg. He is the leader of the ball club and for good reason.
Despite a 10-strikeout performance Wednesday, Jose Fernandez still took the loss for the Marlins. He allowed three runs, none of them earned, and four hits. That was not enough as he had little run support against Washington. Tom Koehler has been hot for the Marlins recently, going 1-1 with a 1.38 ERA and an opponent BA of .140 in two starts. Miami may not be giving up many home runs defensively, but they are giving up too many hits, walks, and runs. They need to buckle down on the mound and keep the team close if they need to rely on Stanton’s power late in games.