Friday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies (27-12), the best team in the league, and the Miami Marlins (10-30) went about as expected. The Phillies throttled their NL East rival 8-2 in a contest that was never close. They’ll square off for the second game on Saturday with the Phillies looking to secure their eighth series win of the season.
Ranger Suárez was as good as ever on Friday, logging seven scoreless innings to drop his season ERA to 1.50, joining some elite Phillies franchise company. The offense got contributions from up and down the lineup, including another home run from Nick Castellanos.
One thing to watch over the coming days is Kyle Schwarber’s status. He left last night’s game in the ninth inning with back soreness and will take today off to rest and recover. Schwarber and the Phillies don’t sound too concerned, at the moment.
Phillies vs. Marlins probable pitchers, May 11
- Taijuan Walker (2-0) will start for the Phillies today, making his third start of the season. He comes in with a 6.39 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with 11 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. He was solid in his last outing, throwing 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts against the Giants. Walker faced the Marlins once last season and held them to tow runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings in a win.
- Left-hander Jesús Luzardo (0-2) returns from the 15-day IL to make his sixth start of the year. The Marlins de facto ace this season hasn’t had the kind of start we expected. He carries a 6.58 ERA and 1.42 WHIP into this matchup. Luzardo won both of his regular season starts against the Phillies in 2023. The last time he faced them was in the Wild Card when the Phillies knocked him around for three runs on eight hits over four innings as part of their two-game sweep.
