The Miami Marlins will try to turn the tables on the National League East rival Braves on Thursday when the teams begin a five-game series in Atlanta.
The Marlins have not won a season series against Atlanta since 2014, but they are 3-2 versus the Braves this year, and they are one of the NL’s hottest teams.
Miami, which salvaged a game in a three-game series by beating the visiting Houston Astros 6-4 on Wednesday, has won 10 of its last 14. The Marlins are 31-16 since June 13.
“Every time they show up to the ballpark, there is an expectation now to win,” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said. “The losses sting more, and that’s a good thing. It’s not only believing you can do it but proving to yourself that you can.”
Meanwhile, Atlanta has lost 11 of its past 14 to fall a season-worst 19 games below .500. The fourth-place Braves are nine games behind the third-place Marlins in the NL East.
“For a long time we’ve been struggling with just kind of keeping the line moving,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “You get two or three games maybe when it flows, but we can’t put anything together and sustain anything for any period of time.”
The Marlins will send Eury Perez (4-3, 2.70 ERA) to the mound on Thursday to face Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 5.68) in a battle of right-handers.
Perez has pitched well in his past six starts, going 4-1 with a 1.06 ERA. During that span of 34 innings, the 22-year-old has allowed four runs on 15 hits and eight walks while striking out 37 and limiting opponents to a .132 batting average. He is the first pitcher in Marlins history to allow 15 hits while posting a sub-1.50 ERA in a span of six starts.
In his latest outing, on Saturday against the New York Yankees, Perez fired six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks and fanning five.
“Every time I make a mistake or a bad pitch, I’ve learned with every game that you have to just step out, take a deep breath and then go back again,” Perez said. “That is going to help you maintain the rhythm and command each game.”
Perez will look to change his luck against the Braves. In two career starts vs. Atlanta, he is 0-2 with a 16.20 ERA. The Braves got to him for three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings on June 21.
Carrasco will make his second start for Atlanta since his contract was purchased from the Yankees on July 28. He made his Braves debut at Cincinnati on July 31, when he pitched six innings and permitted three runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out five.
The 38-year-old is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 12 career starts against the Marlins.
The series features two of the game’s top rookie catchers — Miami’s Agustin Ramirez and Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin. Ramirez, who is batting .243, leads NL rookies in extra-base hits (42), runs (48), hits (86), doubles (24), home runs (17) and RBIs (51). Baldwin is hitting .281 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs.
The Braves may be close to getting ace Chris Sale back from the injured list. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday, a precursor to a minor league rehab assignment. The 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner has been out since mid-June with a fractured left ribcage.