Miami Marlins vs. Colorado Rockies Pick & Prediction MAY 25th 2023
The Colorado Rockies have overcome a rough first month of the season to creep back toward respectability, and they have a chance to keep it going Thursday afternoon.
Colorado is 12-9 since entering May having lost 20 of its first 29 games. The Rockies can win another series when they wrap up a four-game home set against the Miami Marlins.
The Rockies will send Kyle Freeland (4-5, 3.88 ERA) to the mound while Miami counters with Braxton Garrett (1-2, 4.60) in a matchup of left-handers.
William Taylor
Colorado won the first two games of the series before the Marlins rebounded with a 10-2 victory on Wednesday.
Freeland should be rested after tossing just two innings in a forgettable start in Texas on Saturday. Freeland allowed eight runs -- five earned -- on nine hits in an 11-5 loss, a step back for him after four straight starts in which he allowed three runs or fewer.
He had been particularly sharp over his previous three outings. Freeland had two starts which he didn't allow a run and he was a hard-luck loser in the other, allowing two runs over seven innings of a 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh.
Freeland has emerged as the Rockies' ace after German Marquez was lost for the season to Tommy John surgery. He has shown the ability to pitch well after tough games and to give Colorado quality starts and a chance to win.
"He's a veteran pitcher now and it shows in the emotional state, the mental state that he's in," manager Bud Black said recently. "He knows who he is as a pitcher. He can have a rough game and then bounce back."
Freeland has pitched well in five career outings, three starts, against Miami, going 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA.
Garrett has a chance to give the Marlins a series split with a good outing in the getaway game. He has faced the Rockies twice in his young career, going 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA over 8 2/3 innings.
If he can get the kind of run support Miami produced on Wednesday, then Garrett has a chance to get his first win against Colorado. The Marlins posted a season-high run total and got home runs from Jorge Soler and Jonathan Davis. They put up 14 hits, four by Yuli Gurriel.
Miami's leading hitter, Luis Arraez, said batting in the thin air doesn't always mean success for hitters.
"Baseballs are hard to hit," he said. "Everybody says that Colorado is good for hitting, but I don't think so -- you're still facing big league pitchers, and you're trying to do the job, but you don't do it every time -- especially me. We're human. We've just got to continue to play hard."
Arraez leads the majors in batting with a .371 average, but he could be sidelined for the last game of the series. He left the Wednesday game in the seventh inning due to left leg cramps, a common issue for players coming to play at altitude.
The Marlins announced that Arraez's exit was a precautionary move, so the ailment is not expected to be a problem moving forward.
--Field Level Media
Miami Marlins vs. Colorado Rockies Recap MAY 25TH 2023
Jonathan Davis homered among his three hits, Jorge Soler went deep for the second straight night and the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 10-2 in Denver on Wednesday night.
Yuli Gurriel had four hits while Jacob Stallings and Soler added two hits apiece for the Marlins. Major league batting leader Luis Arraez, who earlier hit a two-run double, exited the game in the seventh inning due to a left leg cramp.
Miami starter Sandy Alcantara (2-5) allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out three.
Elias Diaz homered for the Rockies. Colorado starter Karl Kauffmann (0-2) gave up five runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and fanned two.
Colorado went ahead in the first inning when Charlie Blackmon led off with a triple and scored on Jurickson Profar's double. The hit extended Profar's on-base streak to 32 games, the longest current stretch in the majors.
Kauffmann cruised through the first three innings before faltering in the fourth. Soler was hit by a pitch and Arraez reached on a fielder's choice. Bryan De La Cruz walked, and Gurriel singled to drive in Arraez and put runners on the corners.
De La Cruz scored on a double steal to put the Marlins ahead 2-1, and they padded the lead in the fifth.
Stallings led off with a double, Davis singled and Stallings scored on a sacrifice fly by Jon Berti. Soler singled and both runners came home on a double by Arraez, which ended Kauffmann's night.
Miami added another run in the sixth when Gurriel tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Stallings. Davis followed with his first home run of the season to make it 7-1.
Colorado got one back in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff homer by Diaz, his fifth of the season and second in three games.
The Marlins put the game away in the seventh inning. Soler led off with a home run, his 14th of the season, and pinch hitter Garrett Hampson singled. Two outs later, Gurriel singled and Joey Wendle doubled to left to bring home two more.
Miami will attempt to gain a split of the four-game series in the finale Thursday afternoon.
--Field Level Media