Two left-handers will start on Sunday afternoon as the Detroit Tigers and host Miami Marlins compete in the rubber game of a weekend series.
Jesus Luzardo (8-5, 3.22 ERA) will start for the Marlins. He already has a career high in wins, starts (21) and innings (120 1/3).
Luzardo, who has yet to face Detroit in his career, is 10-9 with a 3.76 ERA in 29 starts in Miami. He also is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts this month.
Tarik Skubal (1-1, 3.71) will start on Sunday and make his first career start vs. the Marlins.
Skubal is 17-25 with a 4.13 ERA in parts of four major league seasons. Of his 64 MLB appearances, 61 have been starts.
However, Skubal has taken a step back from last season, when he went 7-8 with a career-best 3.52 ERA in 21 starts.
Detroit recorded a 5-0 win on Saturday as Miguel Cabrera — who started his career with the Marlins — had a double and single in four at-bats. Cabrera, who is retiring after this season, received a standing ovation from the Miami crowd.
“I’m enjoying my last year in the big leagues,” Cabrera said. “I’m happy where I am. Let’s keep winning games. Hopefully we can win this series (on Sunday).”
Meanwhile, the Marlins – after a surprisingly good 53-39 start – are struggling. They are just 3-10 since the All-Star Game.
“We just couldn’t string anything together,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said after Saturday’s loss.
Help could be on the way for the Marlins, who expect to have outfielder Avisail Garcia return for the series finale. He has been on the injured list since April 28 due to a back injury.
Star center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. is set to play a minor-league rehab game on Sunday. Also, the Marlins activated new closer David Robertson following a trade with the New York Mets.
Robertson, 38, is 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA and 14 saves this season.
Another player to watch is Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez, who leads the major leagues with a .381 batting average. He went 2-for-4 on Saturday and is hitting .352 this month.
Arraez hit .438 in April, a season-low .330 in May and .406 in June.
For the Tigers, the players to watch are first baseman Spencer Torkelson and center fielder Riley Greene. Both are ex-first-round picks in their second MLB seasons.
Torkelson has heated up since posting a .599 OPS in April. Since then, his OPS has been .783 in May, .716 in June and a season-best .788 in July. He had a season-high seven homers in June, and July has been his best for RBIs (18).
Greene’s OPS in April was just .613, but it soared to 1.008 in May and to .945 in July.
–Field Level Media