Florida Marlins at Atlanta Braves Series Preview

The Braves come back home after a miserable road trip that saw their lead in the Wild Card shrink to 4.5 games, suffering three-game sweeps in Philadelphia and St. Louis and losing eight of 11 overall. They welcome the Marlins into town, who have been officially eliminated from playoff contention and are reduced to playing the role of spoiler. That'll be tough against the Braves, as they've lost nine of 12 to them this year, including a couple of sweeps.

Pitching matchups after the jump.

Monday, September 12, 7:10 p.m. EDT

Chris Volstad

#41 / Pitcher / Florida Marlins

Height: 6-8

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 23, 1986

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Chris Volstad	5-12	25	25	0	0	0	0	140.2	165	90	84	21	44	100	5.37	1.49

Brandon Beachy

#37 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 03, 1986

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Brandon Beachy	7-2	22	22	0	0	0	0	126.0	106	50	46	16	36	142	3.29	1.13

Tuesday, September 13, 7:10 p.m. EDT

Brad Hand

#52 / Pitcher / Florida Marlins

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Mar 20, 1990

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Brad Hand	1-6	10	10	0	0	0	0	50.2	41	25	22	9	32	28	3.91	1.44

Mike Minor

#36 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 210

Bats: R

Throws: L

Born: Dec 26, 1987

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Mike Minor	5-2	12	12	0	0	0	0	66.2	77	33	32	3	22	61	4.32	1.49

Wednesday, September 14, 12:05 p.m. EDT

Ricky Nolasco

#47 / Pitcher / Florida Marlins

Height: 6-2

Weight: 230

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Dec 13, 1982

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Ricky Nolasco	10-10	30	30	2	1	0	0	190.1	225	101	93	17	40	138	4.40	1.39

Randall Delgado

#40 / Pitcher / Atlanta Braves

Height: 6-3

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Feb 09, 1990

 

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2011 - Randall Delgado	0-1	4	4	0	0	0	0	20.0	15	9	8	3	9	13	3.60	1.20

OFFENSE

The Marlins have hit .285 since September started (105/369, 33 XBH). Logan Morrison, Mike Stanton and Mike Cameron are all day-to-day with leg ailments, so Florida has had to use a makeshift outfield lately. An outfield of Emilio Bonifacio, Bryan Petersen and Greg Dobbs would certainly not be out of the ordinary in this series. Hanley Ramirez has been shut down the rest of the year, so expect to see many different names around the infield like Donnie Murphy and Jose Lopez.

Now that the rosters have expanded, the Marlins have debuted prized prospect Matt Dominguez; he is 4-for-11 in five games.

PITCHING

The Marlins are 6-4 in September with a 2.78 ERA, and have only allowed two home runs. Leo Nunez is unscored upon in his last five outings following three straight ugly appearances in August during which he blew two saves and allowed nine runs in 2.2 innings.

Nolasco's ERA has ballooned to its current state thanks to his last five outings: he's given up 26 runs, 11 in one start, in his last 28.1 innings with a 1-2 record. However, he's the only one of the three in the series to have a win against the Braves this year (1-0, 8 runs in 19 innings). Hand has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his 10 starts, but has lost 1-0 twice, most recently in his last start September 7 and again in his debut against the Braves June 7. As for Volstad, he's lost four straight decisions and the Marlins have lost his last six starts.

CURRENT BULLPEN

R - Leo Nunez (closer)
R - Jose Ceda
R - Steve Cishek
L - Michael Dunn
R - Chris Hatcher
R - Clay Hensley
R - Edward Mujica
R - Sandy Rosario
R - Brian Sanches
R - Ryan Webb

It's not time to panic. 4.5 games is still a good lead, but it's no secret what the Braves need to do in order to keep their Wild Card lead from diminishing any further.