Phillies look to stay hot on road against Sandy Alcántara, Marlins

The Phillies begin a 3-game series against division foe Marlins on Tuesday.

The Philadelphia Phillies will look to stay hot when they take on the Miami Marlins on the road this week. After a disappointing West Coast trip in Arizona and San Francisco, the Phillies took care of business at home and won five out of six games against the Marlins and Washington Nationals. The club bounced back and beat the teams they should to keep themselves in a good position to make the postseason.

The Phillies will look for continued success on the road against a beatable Marlins team. They will send out left-hander Bailey Falter on Tuesday, followed by right-handers Kyle Gibson and Noah Syndergaard. Falter has pitched well of late, but is going to be opposed by Cy Young Award candidate Sandy Alcántara. The Phillies will face Alcántara for the sixth time this season:

The Phillies will go up against right-hander Edward Cabrera on Wednesday. Cabrera has pitched well this season and has a 2.63 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 54 2/3 innings. The Phillies last faced him on August 11 — scoring no runs with only three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Pablo López will take the mound for the Marlins in the series finale. López started the season strong, but has struggled of late. In his last 15 games, he has an ERA of 5.19.

The Phillies will need to rely on their starting pitching to keep them in games. The Marlins rotation is good — despite the team’s lack of success this season. If the Phillies rotation can hold their own, their offense can get to these Marlins starters.

The offense has been heating up — scoring five or more runs in the last four games. Contributions from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber will be key, as the left-handed power hitters have struggled of late. They did both hit home runs on Saturday night. If both can heat up, the rest of the offense is hitting well enough for the team to continue scoring runs.

Winning another series would go a long way in the Phillies’ quest for the postseason. The Milwaukee Brewers have some tough series coming up against the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, and New York Mets. The San Diego Padres play the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Cardinals in their next three series. The Phils need to continue to win and control their own fate as we get further into September and closer to October.