Miami Marlins (8-14) @ San Francisco Giants (12-10) (5/1-5/3) Preview: I really hope we do not get swept!

The brief home stand was apparently not what the doctor ordered for the Miami Marlins. The team struggled against the Arizona Diamondbacks and only won one game in the four game series.

The Marlins now have lost seven out of their last eight ballgames. They will try to change their luck on their west coast trip. The Marlins are just 2-9 on the road this season and will take on the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and the Houston Astros on their 9-game road trip.

The Marlins road trip will not be a cake walk, especially with their struggling offense. Runs do not come easy in the first two ballparks they play in and the Astros could certainly give the Marlins a very hard time if they do not improve their play.

Due to finals and work, I was unable to reach anyone on the San Francisco Giants Fansided site, Around the Fog Horn, so there will be no chat for this series. Hopefully we can jump back onto schedule for the Padres series.

Miami Marlins (8-14) @ San Francisco Giants (12-10), May 1-3, Games 23-25

NL East Standings

 AT&T Park

Five-year Run PF*: .97

Five-year HR PF*: .96

Stadium Dimensions:

Left field – 364 feet
Left-center field – 404 feet
Center field – 399 feet
Right-center field – 421 feet
Right field – 365 feet

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

Projected Pitching Matchups

May 1: Ricky Nolasco vs. Matt Cain
May 2: Carlos Zambrano vs. Barry Zito
May 3:   Anibal Sanchez vs. Ryan Vogelsong

ZiPS In-Season Projections

Projected Lineup

Notes:

• The Marlins offense picked up five runs and eleven hits in the finale vs the D-Backs. Hopefully that is a start to the Marlins hot hitting streak.
• This is the Marlins first trip back to San Francisco since the infamous Scott Cousins–Buster Posey collision at home plate. Posey is finally healthy again and Cousins is in the minor leagues.
• The last time the Marlins were in San Francisco, they earned a 3-game sweep and were sitting at 29-19, the second best record in the National League. Hopefully the Marlins can go to the lost and found at the airport and find that talent they have been missing since.
• The Marlins are 5-for-5 in runners in scoring position situations while totaling 18 runs and hitting .182 in its last nine games.
• The Giants will be throwing veteran pitcher Matt Cain at the Marlins. Cain lost both of his starts versus the Marlins last season, but has a 3.28 ERA over nine career outings against them.
• In his two home starts in 2012 , Cain has lasted nine innings in each, yielding a combined three hits and one walk while striking out 15.
• Ricky Nolasco will take the mound for the Marlins against the Giants.
• Nolasco owns a 0.76 ERA in three starts at AT&T Park. He has a 1.61 ERA in six career starts vs the Giants.
• Buster Posey is 3-for-7 lifetime off of Nolasco.
• Game two will feature the new and improved Barry Zito. He has had a great start to the season with his ERA, but the rest of his peripherals do not match up.
• Zito should enjoy success against the Marlins lineup that has struggled against lefties this season. Zito owns a career 2.45 ERA vs the Marlins in 44 innings.
• Carlos Zambrano will oppose Zito. Like Zito, Zambrano has enjoyed a lot of success against the team he is facing. Zambrano has a career 2.55 ERA in 70 innings against the Giants.
• Zambrano allowed ten hits his last time out, but limited the damage to just three runs. He will need to be a little bit better for the Marlins to win this game.
• The finale of the series will have the Giants throwing Ryan Vogelsong our way. Vogelsong owns a career 2.17 ERA in 25 innings vs the Marlins.
• Greg Dobbs could recieve the start for this game. He, in his career, is 3-for-7 career off of Vogelsong, while Gaby Sanchez is 0-for-7.
• The Marlins will counter with their hottest pitcher, Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez has a career 0.75 ERA in 24 innings vs the Giants.
• Sanchez is coming off of a 14 strikeout performance his last time out. Against a weak Giants hitting lineup, I like his chances of trying to repeat that.
• Melky Cabrera is 5-for-7 career vs Sanchez, while Buster Posey is 0-for-3.
• The Marlins are just 2-9 on the road and will need to improve that.
• The Marlins are hoping to have a better May then they did April.

Prediction:

As I promised in my last prediction, to try and change the Marlins luck, I am going to start to pick against the Marlins. The Giants will sweep this series and make the Marlins look like a AAA team. The Giants will outscore the Marlins 28-1 in this series. The Marlins will fall to 8-17 and there will be a major move made.

*I hope this reverse psychology works.

May 4-6: @San Diego Padres

May 7-9: @Houston Astros

*May 11-13: New York Mets

*Get your tickets now from TiqIQ.

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