The Miami Marlins will celebrate Memorial Day by kicking off a series against the National League East team they have both faced the least, and also the only one they have failed to beat yet in 2017.
Only two of nineteen possible games have been played so far against the Fighting Phills, thanks to the season’s lone rainout. You may remember that as one of the last times Miami Marlins fans felt good about their ballclub. Fresh off a series victory in San Diego, losing two of two against the Phillies was an annoying but tolerable stumble in a long season.
Little did we know it would be the first of ten straight series losses.
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Happily though, that streak has been decisively snapped thanks to Sunday’s resounding 9-2 victory. The Marlins can now focus on cementing their climb out of the NL East cellar by putting some distance between themselves and Philadelphia. And possibly even on climbing higher- fans would do well to remember there is only good team in the division at the moment. Only three games separate Miami from teams not named the Washington Nationals
Whether or not the Marlins can rise to the challenge of taking advantage of a scuffling Phillies team is the biggest question heading into this series. However, there are other stories worth following as well. On both sides of the rubber, pitching provides a few compelling subplots to this clash of divisional rivals. Just as was anticipated, power was huge this past weekend; plenty to monitor there as well.
All that being, you shouldn’t really need any extra incentive to follow a Phillies-Marlins series. When it comes to loathing a franchise, this one has always felt pretty natural. At least for me.
But without further ado, time to get to the top three stories to monitor in this series. Let’s dive in.