Marlins start RHP Tom Koehler in Game against Phillies

PHILADELPHIA -- The Miami Marlins (51-43) will face the Phialdelphia Phillies (44-52) in Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Marlins RHP Tom Koehler is making his 20th start of the season, his 12th on the road. Miami is 5-5 over his last 10 starts, during which he is 4-3 with a 4.58 ERA (53.0 ip/27 er). Koehler has 32 career wins, one shy of tying Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and José Fernández for 10th place on the Club’s all-time list.

The Phillies will start RHP Jerad Eickhoff (6-10, 3.76) on the mound.

FISH BITES

The Marlins, looking to win their third straight series, conclude a four-game set against the Phillies and a seven-game
road trip, tonight in Philadelphia (7:05 p.m.). RHP Tom Koehler (6-8, 4.68) toes the rubber for Miami; he is 2-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 13 career games, 11 starts, against Philadelphia, 2-4, 3.74 as a starter. The Phillies send righty Jerad Eickhoff (6-10,
3.76), an Evansville, Ind. native like Marlins manager Don Mattingly, to the hill; he is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against Miami. Tonight’s game is the fourth contest of 10 straight against NL East opponents, as the Fish will return home following this series for a 10-game homestand against the Mets (July 22-24) and Phillies (July 25-27), before facing the Cardinals (July 28-31). Miami is 4-2 thus far on a 20-game stretch without an off-day to begin the second half.

LAST NIGHT AT PHILADELPHIA

The Marlins fell to the Phillies, 4-1, at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phils took a 2-0 lead in the first and never relinquished it.
Wei-Yin Chen (5-4) started and took the loss, allowing four runs in 5.1 innings. Miami’s lone run came on a Chris Johnsonhome run in the fifth inning, as the Fish had just five hits, four of which were singles, and no walks. Neither pitching staff issued a walk in the game, the Marlins' second such game this season.

UP NEXT

The Marlins return home after tonight’s contest and open a 10-game homestand tomorrow with the first of three against the Mets. This season, Miami has gone 4-5 against the Mets, 1-2 at home. The Fish are 21-20 all-time at Marlins Park against the Metropolitans, but are 184-201 overall all-time against them.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING

A win tonight would give the Marlins their third straight series win and second straight on the road. The team hasn’t won  three straight series since April 25-May 5, taking four of four in LA (April 25-28), two of three in Milwaukee (April 29-May
1) and all three over the Diamondbacks in Miami (May 3-5). Additionally, the Marlins are looking for their first series win
vs. the Phillies this season. Last year, the Marlins won two of their three series here in Philly, but were 4-5 overall in their
nine games here.

KEEP IT SHORT

Since losing three straight, to close out the month of June, the Marlins have not dropped consecutive games in July.
The team is 10-5 in July and has managed to win the game following their four previous losses this month.

RECORD HIGHS

The Marlins loss last night dropped their record to 51-43. At 51-42 the team was a season-high nine games over .500. It
was their highest mark since standing at 31-22 through May 31, 2011. The last time the team was 10-over was at 30-20
through May 28, 2011. The last time the Marlins were eight-or-more over in the second half of the season was when
they finished the 2009 season 87-75.

CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN

J.T. Realmuto recorded his 10th stolen base of the season Tuesday night. He currently leads the Marlins in that category and would be the first catcher to do so in a single season in Club history. The last catcher to lead his team in stolen  bases in a season was Jason Kendall, who led Oakland with 11 steals in 2006. - STATS LLC

CATCH THIS

J.T. Realmuto is having an impressive season when stacked up against other MLB catchers. He is second behind Wil-
son Ramos (93) for the most hits as a catcher (92), and is third in average (.311), behind Ramos (.332) and Jonathan
Lucroy (.325). Realmuto also leads MLB catchers in stolen bases, with nine (10 overall). He already holds the career
Club record for a backstop (18), ahead of Benito Santiago (11). His eight career triples are tied with Santiago for the
most by a catcher in Club history, and his batting average would set a new Club record, surpassing Ivan Rodriguez,
who hit .300 in 2003.

GETTING STRONGER

On the season, Miami's relievers have combined to go 20-16 with 37 saves and a 3.56 ERA, ranking first in MLB in saves,
third (first in NL) in wins, and fourth in the NL in ERA. The 'pen has been led by A.J. Ramos, who owns a 2.03 ERA (40.0
ip/9 er), seventh among NL relievers, and 31 saves (32 SVO), second in MLB. The newest member of the Marlins 'pen,
Fernando Rodney, ranks second among NL relievers in ERA (0.96) and ranks first in MLB in opponents’ batting average
(.136) this season. Rodney is 17-for-17 in save chances, 10th-most in the NL.

30-30 CLUB

A.J. Ramos, who picked up his 31st save Tuesday night, recorded his 30th save of the season on Monday to become just the fourth Marlins pitcher to have two 30-plus save seasons. Ramos set his career high with 32 saves last season. Steve Cishek (2013, 2014), Juan Carlos Oviedo (pitching as Leo Nunez in 2010, 2011) and Robb Nen (1996, 1997) are the only other Marlins to have multiple seasons of 30+ saves. Additionally, Ramos earned a save in seven of 10 team games from July 5-19, marking the second time he has accomplished the feat this season (also, April 24-May 5). Prior to this year, it had only happened twice in team history, done by Steve Cishek (July 20-29, 2014) and Antonio Alfonseca (June 30-July 13, 2000).

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Ichiro Suzuki now has a total of 2,994 hits over his MLB career. On June 15 at San Diego, Ichiro unofficially passed Pete Rose's Major League hit record of 4,256 when combining Ichiro’s 1,278 hits with the Orix Blue Wave of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. Suzuki is batting .341 (59x173) this season and is six hits away from
becoming the 30th player in Major League history to record 3,000 hits and tying Roberto Clemente for 29th on MLB's all-time hit list - Elias

BROADCAST NOTES

FOX Sports Florida announced yesterday the addition of next Wednesday's game, July 27, vs. the Philadelphia Phillies to the broadcast schedule. In addition, TBS has
added the July 31 game vs. the St. Louis Cardinals to its broadcast schedule.