2 Reasons why the Miami Marlins can still win the series

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Th Miami Marlins are trailing the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0 in the National League Wild Card playoffs. It's sad, considering how excited the players have been to make the playoffs. The good news is that tonight does indeed look promising for The Fish. As we look forward to tonight's game (8:08 PM ET on ESPN), let's look at the three reasons why the Miami Marlins can win this series.

The Miami Marlins can still win the NL Wild Card playoff series against the Philadelphia Phillies tonight.

2. Braxton Garrett is pitching tonight.

The Miami Marlins are facing a must win game tonight, can The Fish win it and then win the next one as well? The first reason why the Miami Marlins will win the series is tonight's starting pitcher Braxton Garrett. Braxton had a breakout season and I fully expect him to continue the good performances tonight.

It doesn't hurt that the Philadelphia Phillies will have a worse starting pitcher on the mound in Aaron Nola. Nola has a 4.46 ERA this season and has fallen flat in multiple big outings. It would be kind of uncharacteristic for him to suddenly have a big game. I fully expect Nola to give up enough runs for The Fish to be able to tie up the series.

Do you know what else matters here? Braxton Garrett happens to be a lefty starter, which of course helps him against Philly's multiple lefty bats. One of those bats is LF Kyle Schwarber, who has a .188/.325/.430 batting line against lefties this season. 1B Bryce Harper has a career .264/.363/.463 batting line against lefties (compare it to his .281/.391/.521 career batting line. Bottom line is that Garrett has a good chance at shutting down Philly's top bats.

I also expect Braxton Garrett to go all out tonight. This is the most important start of his career and I see him giving a memorable performance. He is a good lefty starting pitcher having a good season, who is going up against an average starting pitcher and a team with multiple key lefty bats, who don't do good against lefties. Tjis could be enough to get the Miami Marlins to game 3.

NEXT: Philly's "Achilles' heel"

1. Philly's "Achilles' heel"

The Miami Marlins have a chance to take advantage of the Philadelphia Phillies' big flaw. It's certainly time to exploit it to its fullest! What is the flaw? Their pitching outside of ace Zack Wheeler is really nothing impressive. I would even say that it's very shaky and poor for a supposedly contending team. I already talked about Aaron Nola, and that's their #2 starting pitcher.

The Miami Marlins can take advantage of the Philadelphia Phillies' biggest flaw

How comfortable can Philly really be without Zack Wheeler pitching any more games for the rest of this playoff series. Cristopher Sanchez has a shiny 3.44 ERA, but he also has a 3.99 FIP, implying that he's not nearly as good as the ERA implies. He also had a 3.65 ERA/4.15 FIP in the second half. Ranger Suarez has a 4.18 ERA/3.90 FIP and Taijuan Walker has a 4.38 ERA/4.54 FIP. This isn't a playoff rotation outside of Wheeler as nne of these pitcher strike fear in a lineup.

What about the bullpen? Oh boy where do I begin with that. The bullpen has a collective 3.88 FIP/4.06 xFIP, but it's a lot worse when you look at how volatile and inconsistent their relief pitchers have been all season. Who can they even trust for saves? Craig Kimbrel has a 3.26 ERA/3.81 FIP. Jose Alvarado has constant control issues, and showed that off already in the first game of the series. He has a 3.9 BB/9 this season and 5.1 BB/9 for his entire career.

How about former Detroit Tigers closer Gregory Soto? He has a 4.62 ERA this season. I have a hard time seeing this pitching staff, and expecting it to be good enough to take Philly to the World Series again. I don't even see how it's good enough to get them smoothly through tonight's and hopefully tomorrow's game (obviously it will only happen if the Miami Marlins win tonight).

A shaky bullpen and a poor rotation are not things that you want to have in a short playoff series. With their ace out of the way for the rest of the series, the Miami Marlins can exploit this issue, to win tonight and then to win the final game tomorrow night as well.

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