May 7, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Alex Sanabia (28) talks with catcher Miguel Olivo (21) during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins will look to extend their winning streak to two tonight as they take on the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are coming fresh off a walk-off win against the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon.

The Phillies will send out Cole Hamels, hoping he can start turning things around for himself, and the team in 2013. The Marlins counter with Alex Sanabia and hope they are still within reach of the game when he comes out.

Check out my chat with Justin Klugh to get a feel for the Phillies coming into this series. Also check out the series preview for in depth scouting reports on the pitching matchups this series.

Cole Hamels	V	Alex Sanabia
9	GS	8
56.2	IP	45.0
4.61	ERA	5.00
4.81	FIP	5.96
47	K	25
24	BB	23

Marlins Lineup

Same lineup as the one Redmond rolled out in Sunday’s win. This lineup barely put two runs on the board, but they won, so this is what Redmond will go with tonight. Coghlan is 7-for-21 in his career with two home runs against Hamels.

Phillies Lineup

With Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz both out with injuries, the Phillies lineup looks nearly as pathetic as the Marlins. Thankfully for Phillies fans, they have Chase Utley and a hot Michael Young. The Marlins lineup has neither.

May 19, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins (11) greets a young fan before the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins snapped their seven-game losing streak on Sunday afternoon and were able to avoid a sweep to the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was the team’s first win of their nine-game homestand in six attempts.

The Marlins will have a chance to salvage their homestand and improve their embarrassing 6-16 mark at home in a three game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins have sustained some success against the Phillies this season, going 4-5 against them this season.

The Marlins are hoping that seeing the Phillies pitching again can get their bats going. The Marlins dropped 14 runs on Roy Halladay and the Phillies the last time they faced off. Roy Halladay is currently on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

Philadelphia Phillies @ Miami Marlins  May 20-22, Games 45-47

NL East	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	AWAY	L10	STRK
Braves	25	18	.581	-	12-5	13-13	5-5	W3
Nationals	23	21	.523	2.5	12-9	11-12	4-6	L2
Phillies	21	23	.477	4.5	11-12	10-11	5-5	W1
Mets	17	24	.415	7.0	9-12	8-12	3-7	W1
Marlins	12	32	.273	13.5	6-16	6-16	2-8	W1

Stadium: Marlins Park

Five-year Run PF*: N/A
Five-year HR PF*: N/A
Stadium Dimensions:
Left field line—340 ft.
Left-center field—384 ft.
Center field—416 ft.
Right-center field—392 ft.
Right field line—335 ft.

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

2013 Season Statistics

May 7, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Alex Sanabia (28) throws during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Monday, May 20th 2013: Cole Hamels, PHI vs. Alex Sanabia, MIA

Command has been a major issue for Hamels in 2013, as he has walked 27 batters in 56.2 innings of work. His BB/9IP sits at 2.31 for his career, but is 1.5 higher this season at 3.81. He is also allowing home runs at a higher rate, allowing 1.43 per nine innings pitched. Both of these are a concern for Hamels, as he is having the worst season of his career. Hamels has made two starts this season against the Marlins, pitching 12 innings, allowing just 8 hits, and striking out 11 against 3 walks.

Sanabia has dropped five straight decisions, and has given up an average of four runs and seven hits per game. He has just two more strikeouts than walks on the season and has given up 56 hits in 45 innings. That is not a good combination, which has led to a very bad ERA, which is more generous than his FIP. Overall, Sanabia has been a colossal failure in 2013 and needs to be taken out of the Marlins starting rotation A.S.A.P.

Tuesday, May 21st 2013: Tyler Cloyd, PHI vs. Jose Fernandez, MIA

Cloyd was the choice for the Phillies to replace Roy Halladayin the rotation while he recovers from his shoulder surgery. He pitched six innings last time out, allowing just three

May 16, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) throws during the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

earned runs, but he walked three and only struck out four. Cloyd is not an ove, as his fastball averages around 86-87 MPH. He owns a career 4.58 ERA in over 39 major league innings.

Fernandez threw a career high 99 pitches last time out against the Cincinnati Reds. He tied his career high with 7 innings pitched, striking out five and walking three. Last time out against the Phillies, Fernandez had the best start of his young career. In seven innings, Jose struck out a career high nine hitters, while allowing just one hit and one walk. Fernandez has throw 13 innings against the Phillies this season and has allowed no runs on just three hits. He has struck out 14 Philly hitters and walked three. Safe to say Jose Fernandez owns the Philadelphia Phillies early on in his career

Wednesday, May 22nd 2013: Cliff Lee, PHI vs. Kevin Slowey, MIA

Cliff Lee continues to be one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in 2013. He has a 2.83 ERA and a 3.00 FIP in his first nine starts of the season. Lee has averaged over 7 innings a start in 2013, continuing to be one of the more durable pitchers in baseball. He has not faced the Marlins in 2013, but owns a 2.68 ERA in 53 2/3 innings.

Slowey will look to bounce back from his previous two starts, in which he has started to

May 17, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Kevin Slowey (45) reacts during the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

regress towards his career numbers. His ERA has shot up almost two full runs in the past two starts, in which surrendered 11 runs on 18 hits in just 7 2/3 inning of work. This comes after he had a dominant start against the Phillies, throwing seven shutout innings and allowing just two hits. He struck out seven that game and walked just two.

Bold Prediction: The Marlins are able to steal the series from the Phillies by taking the first two games. Jose Fernandez turns in another gem against the Phillies. The Marlins drop the finale as Lee throws a complete game shutout and Slowey once again runs into trouble.

May 14, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey (left) greets catcher Ryan Hanigan (right) after defeating the Miami Marlins 6-2 at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins offense, as usual, brought a knife to a gunfight last night as the Cincinnati Reds shut them out for a league-leading seventh time this season.  The Marlins managed to bang out 11 hits which established a club record for a game in which they have failed to score.  The problem is that 10 of those hits were singles and only one came with a runner in scoring position.  By contrast, the Reds also had 11 hits, but 5 of them went for extra bases including 2 home runs from CF Shin-Soo Choo.

The Marlins are last in the league in slugging percentage, trailing the second to last Los Angeles Dodgers by a wide margin, and it showed in the results last night.  The lone extra base hit was a double from the bat of rookie Derek Dietrich who has been the club’s hottest hitter since being called up last week.  Dietrich’s double came with nobody on base and 2 outs in the fifth inning and the Reds quickly induced a fly out by Marcell Ozuna to end the inning and the threat.  The Marlins got 2 hits each from Dietrich, Greg Dobbs and Rob Brantly, but none of them was at the opportune time to plate a run.  Dietrich would eventually strike out looking to end the game with 2 men on in the bottom of the ninth on a nasty slider from Reds’ closer Aroldis Chapman.

Alex Sanabia would make it through six innings for the fifth time in his 8 starts this year, but would give up all four Reds runs along the way.  Sanabia was tagged for 9 hits including the 2 home runs by Choo and also walked 3 Reds hitters.  He now has 23 walks to 25 strike outs on the season in 45 innings pitched to go along with 56 hits allowed.  Sanabia’s inability to strike batters out means he would need to severely limit his walks to have any chance at success and he is obviously not doing that.  As Ehsan Kassim pointed out yesterday here at Marlin Maniac, Sanabia’s time in the rotation may be coming to an end soon.

Mike Leake (3-2) went 6 and 2/3 innings for the Reds and was credited with the win while, obviously, Sanabia (2-6) took the loss for the Marlins.  Sanabia is now tied for the league lead in losses.

Up Next: In what should be the best matchup of the series, Jose Fernandez (2-2) takes the mound for the Marlins facing South Florida native Mat Latos (4-0) for the Reds.

May 7, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman Chris Valaika (13) is injured after a play at second base during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

In the second inning of Tuesday night’s game, Miami Marlins’s rightfielder Marcell Ozuna lost a flyball in the twilight sky.  As he stood there with his arms extended and a befuddled look on his face still looking for the ball it landed about ten rows into the stands behind him for a home run.  This play pretty much summed up the entire game as the Miami Marlins lost to the San Diego Padres for the second night in a row, 5-1.

Alex Sanabia was in trouble all night allowing baserunners in all of the 5 innings he started.  Luckily, the Padres were only able to capitalize in the first 2 innings scoring 1 in the first and 3 in the second.  Those four runs would be more than enough, though, as the Marlins failed to take advantage of the opportunities they had to score.  Sanabia worked into the fifth inning before leaving the game with a groin injury.  He worked 4 1/3 innings on the night and gave up 4 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts to his credit.  The Marlins bullpen would come in to finish the game strong by giving up just 1 unearned run on 1 hit and 1 walk over 3 2/3 innings.

The Marlins offense banged out 7 hits on the night and had men in scoring position in the 1^st, 4^th, and 5^th innings, but were only able to score a single run on the night.  The run came in the 4^th inning as Matt Diaz doubled to open the inning and Marcell Ozuna brought him in with a 2 out bloop double later in the inning.  The double was Ozuna’s fifth in his first 8 games in the big leagues as the rookie continues to impress.  Ozuna ended up with 2 hits on the night, as he added a single later in the game, and Placido Polanco also contributed 2 hits to lead the Fish.

As if the loss and injury to Sanabia were not bad enough, the Marlins may have also lost Chris Valaika for an extended period of time as he suffered a fractured left wrist covering second base on an attempted steal by the Padres.  For those of you clamoring earlier in the season for Chris Coghlan to get time in the infield, you finally got your wish as he took over at 2^nd base for the rest of the night following the Valaika injury.  The Marlins will likely have to call up someone to replace Valaika and possibly Sanabia.  Could infielder Derek Dietrich be on the way to making his MLB debut after a hot start in Double A Jacksonville?  Stay tuned.

Eric Stults got the win for the Padres improving his record to 3-2 and Sanabia took the loss for the Fish falling to 2-5 on the season.  Sanabia may be pitching his way out of the rotation, regardless of the injury he suffered, as he has now allowed 47 hits and 20 walks in 39 inning pitched.

Up Next: The Marlins look to salvage a win in the series finale against the Padres on Wednesday.  Ricky Nolasco (2-3) makes the start for the Marlins against Jason Marquis (3-2) for the Padres.

May 7, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Will Venable (25) breaks up a double play attempt by Miami Marlins third baseman Chris Valaika (13) during the third inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins currently as many wins (10) as they do players on the disabled list (10). Unfortunately for the Fish, the number of players on the DL seem to be growing faster than the digits in the win column. Starting pitcher Alex Sanabia and second baseman Chris Valaika both left Tuesday’s loss with injuries.

Alex Sanabia labored through his 4 1/3 innings before leaving with a tight groin. Sanabia surrendered four runs on nine hits, while striking out three and walking two. In the fifth, after striking out Yonder Alonso, catcher Miguel Olivo sensed something was wrong with Sanabia and went to visit him on the mound. After talking for a minute, Olivo motioned for the Marlins training staff to come to the mound.

Manager Mike Redmond took the ball from Sanabia and brought in Ryan Webb to relieve the right hander. Sanabia will reevaluated tomorrow and could be placed on the disabled list if the injury is severe enough. The Marlins are already down two starters in Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez.

In the bottom of the eight inning, the Marlins received another huge scare. On a stolen base attempt, Alonso ran into second baseman Chris Valaika and knocked him over. Valaika injured his hand on the play and left the game immediately. Chris Coghlan was brought into replace Valaika, making his first appearance at second base since his MLB debut (5/8/10).

The Marlins have quite a few options to call up from their 40-man roster if Sanabia is forced to the DL. Duane Below and Brad Hand could be options as starters.  The team also has a number of relievers that could get the call, with Tom Koehler moving into the rotation.

Not sure if Jacob Turner is an option for the Fish at this time, but the team could sure use him at this point.

If Valaika heads to the DL, the Marlins only options on the 40-man roster are outfield prospect Kyle Jensen or Austin Kearns returning from the bereavement list. Not sure if Kearns is ready to return to the team, but he would have to be off the active roster for at least one more game.

If the Marlins go with one of the outfielders, they will have no choice but to move Coghlan back to second and keep Nick Green in his utility role. Either way, the Marlins are starting to run out of hitting options on their 40-man roster.

Here is a look at the Marlins disabled list as of right now:

@gobblex239 you forgot Ceda and Silverio. twitter.com/MarlinsChick87…

— crystal thrower (@MarlinsChick87) May 8, 2013

Stay tuned to Marlin Maniac for the latest injury updates on Valaika, Sanabia, and the rest of the 10-man disabled list roster.

Update 1:20 AM: 

#Marlins P Alex Sanabia (groin) said he doesn’t expect to miss his next start. Said test results positive. No word on Valaika yet — Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) May 8, 2013

Update 1:26 AM:

#Marlins utility man Chris Valaika said he has a small fracture on his left radius bone on his wrist.

— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) May 8, 2013