Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Jack Flaherty should feel right at home Thursday afternoon.
Flaherty will get the start against the host Miami Marlins in the decisive contest of a three-game series.
The Marlins, who dropped an 8-4 decision on Wednesday, will counter with right-hander Edward Cabrera.
In two career starts at Miami, Flaherty (12-7, 3.04 ERA) is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Over 12 2/3 scoreless innings in those outings, he allowed 10 hits and six walks while striking out 11.
Overall, Flaherty has faced the Marlins four times, going 2-2 with a 2.55 ERA.
A first-round pick for St. Louis in 2014, Flaherty has pitched for four big-league clubs over the past two seasons: the Cardinals and Baltimore Orioles in 2023, the Detroit Tigers and the Dodgers this year.
His 12 wins this season are a career high, and the Dodgers are 5-3 when Flaherty starts.
However, he is coming off his worst start with his new team. On Saturday against the host Atlanta Braves, Flaherty yielded four runs on five hits in three innings during a 10-1 defeat.
“I was around the zone, wasn’t really attacking guys, wasn’t doing the little things right,” Flaherty said postgame, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. “When you look at it, walked four guys, didn’t really get ahead. When I got into good counts, I wasn’t able to put guys away quickly. Counts ran long. They put some good at-bats together.
“You just move on from this one, move on to the next one as quickly as you can. Just make the adjustments, come in tomorrow and start working on things getting ready for the next one.”
Miami is 8-10 this year when starting Cabrera (4-7, 4.55 ERA), who has an elite fastball and a stellar changeup.
Cabrera, though, walks too many batters — 4.4 per nine innings. That’s actually an improvement from his 6.0 rate from 2023.
In three career appearances against the Dodgers, including two starts, Cabrera is 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA. He lost at Los Angeles on May 7 after giving up four runs — all on a first-inning grand slam by Max Muncy — and lasting only two innings.
Cabrera has been terrific this month. He threw seven shutout innings in a Sept. 8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, then took a tough-luck loss on Friday against the Nationals, when he gave up just one hit and two runs (both unearned) over six innings. Cabrera struck out nine and walked one at Washington.
“That was the most dominant outing of his season — (maybe) of his career,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “A lot of first-pitch strikes, 80 percent (of outs) on the ground, strikeouts, swing-and-miss. We just didn’t play clean behind him. He didn’t play clean himself, honestly, (in terms of fielding). But there’s a lot to be proud of what he did the last couple of starts and the way he’s trending towards the end of the season.”
Cabrera will hope to get support in the field and at the plate from rookie Connor Norby, a second baseman who has been playing third for Miami since he was acquired from the Orioles on July 30.
“Making a position change in the major leagues is not easy,” Schumaker said. “Connor had a handful of games in the minor leagues, trying to figure out how to play third base. Plus, he’s got to hit, and that’s not easy for a young guy to do.”
Norby has made four errors in 22 games at his new position. He has been solid with the bat, posting an .864 OPS and scoring 23 runs in 26 games the Marlins.
