Volquez starts as Marlins close out road trip in Philly

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The Miami Marlins conclude their 11-day trip playing the Phillies in the final game of their abbreviated two-game series today at Citizens Bank Park.

Right-hander Edinson Volquez (0-2, 4.18), is starting for the Marlins; he is 4-1, 2.17 in six starts vs. the Phillies, his last coming in 2014, and 2-0, 1.89 in three starts at Citizens Bank Park.

Starting for Philadelphia is RHP Jeremy Hellickson (3-0, 1.88), who is 3-2, 2.71 career against the Marlins.

The Marlins are 3-4 on this now-eight-game, 11-day, cross-country trip, visiting Seattle (1-2), San Diego (2-1), and Philadelphia (0-1).

Following today’s game the Marlins return home to Miami to take on Pittsburgh (April 28-30) and Tampa Bay (May 1-2).

Last night, the Marlins lost to the Phillies, 7-4, at Citizens Bank Park, after three Philly home runs accounted for all seven of their runs. Dee Gordon tripled to lead off the game and scored on Christian Yelich’s ground out, and Miami went up 2-0 on Martin Prado’s homer in the third. But Maikel Franco’s grand slam off Wei-Yin Chen in the bottom of the frame put Philadelphia up for good. Chen allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. Miami added a run in the seventh on Adeiny Hechavarria’s double, and a run in the ninth after Hechavarria drove in another run with a single, but couldn’t close the gap. Hechavarria finished 3x4 with two RBI, and J.T. Realmuto added two hits, but Miami was just 1x7 with runners in scoring position.

Miami was 9-10 against Philadelphia last season, 5-5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Marlins have not had a winning season at Citizens Bank since going 7-2 here in 2009, and have had just three overall: 5-4 in 2004; 5-4 in 2008. Overall, the Marlins are 179-219 against the Phillies, 77-123 at Philadelphia, and 51-72 at CBP.

TRIPPIN'

The Marlins are now in their third leg of this three-city cross-country road trip, after stops in Seattle and San Diego. Since leaving Miami on April 16, the team has currently traveled 6,145 miles on this trip, with a return flight to Miami remaining. By the time the team returns to Miami later tonight, the club will have logged 7,162 miles. Miles by each leg of the trip (to/from airport): MIA-SEA: 2,724; SEA-SD: 1,053; SD-PHI: 2,368; PHI-MIA: 1,017.

APRIL POWERS

The Marlins have hit 26 home runs in 19 games this season (1.37 HR/game), sseventh-most in the National League, and have hit a homer in nine straight games and in 16 of the team’s 19 games this season. The 26 home runs has surpassed the Club’s total in all of April last season (21), and is nine shy of the Club mark for April (35 home runs, done by the 2001 & 2008 Marlins). Also, the nine-game homer streak for Miami is its longest since a 10-game run from April 28-May 8 last season. The longest streak in Club history was 14 games, from June 29-July 12, 2008.

FINISHING THE JOB

The Marlins currently rank sixth in the National League with 4.74 runs scored per game, behind Washington (5.86), Arizona (5.48), Milwaukee (5.22), the Cubs (5.19), and Philadelphia (4.84). That pace is an improvement over the last two seasons, as Miami finished 13th in the NL in 2016 (4.07) and 14th in 2015 (3.78). Miami is batting .293 (39x133) with runners in scoring position this season, which ranks fourth in the NL, behind Washington (.345), Arizona (.332) and Colordao (.306); the Fish ranked fourth (.269) and 11th (.246) in the NL in batting with RISP in the previous two seasons.

GLOVE LOVE

The Marlins own a .993 fielding percentage, committing just five errors in 694 chances. The .993 fielding percentage is tops in the National League, tied with Kansas City for the Major League lead. Their five errors committed are also fewest in the National League, tied with the Royals for fewest in the Majors.

UP NEXT

The Marlins open a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow night in Miami. The Fish were 6-1 against the Buccos last season, taking the final six games of the season, including going 3-1 in Miami. It was the Marlins’ first winning season against the Pirates since going 6-0 in 2011. The Marlins have an all-time record of 86-96 against the Pirates, 52-37 at home and 8-8 at Marlins Park. The Marlins .584 winning percentage at home against the Pirates is their second-best winning percentage at home against any NL team (Colorado, 61-35./635).