Cardinals at Marlins
Marcell Ozuna has punished his former team in the first two contests of the series and hopes to continue the trend when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Miami Marlins on Wednesday for the finale of their three-game set. Ozuna, who was acquired from the Marlins after the 2017 season, recorded two hits and scored twice in the series opener before launching his team-best 18th homer and reaching on a single in Tuesday’s 7-1 victory.
Ozuna, who has batted .452 against Miami over the last two years, is 8-for-16 with a pair of homers during a four-game hitting streak while Yadier Molina returned to St. Louis' lineup on Tuesday after missing two weeks with a thumb injury to go 2-for-5 with a run scored. Miles Mikolas looks to finish off the sweep when he takes the mound for the Cardinals on Wednesday opposite Jordan Yamamoto, who will be making his major-league debut without throwing a pitch in Triple-A. The Marlins won seven of nine games during a stretch bridging May and June but have scored fewer than two runs five times during their six-game losing streak after managing just five hits and striking out nine times in Tuesday's loss. Harold Ramirez notched a single and scored the lone run for Miami in the setback to improve to 6-for-15 during a four-game hitting streak that left his batting average at .327 since being recalled from the minors.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Miles MIkolas (4-6, 4.54 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Jordan Yamamoto (ML Debut)
Mikolas allowed three runs and four hits over four innings versus the Chicago Cubs on Friday before leaving with a bruised right forearm, but he is expected to be ready to face Miami. The 30-year-old Floridian is winless in his last five games, giving up 16 runs over 26 1/3 frames during the drought. Mikolas is 1-3 with a 7.52 ERA on the road this year, although he owns a 2-0 record and a 2.66 ERA in five career games (three starts) against the Marlins.
Yamamoto arrives from Double-A Jacksonville as scheduled starter Jose Urena was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with lower back tightness. The 23-year-old Hawaiian has gone 3-5 with a 3.58 ERA in 12 starts with the Jumbo Shrimp this year, registering 64 strikeouts and issuing 25 walks over 65 1/3 innings. Yamamoto, a 12th-round draft pick of Milwaukee in 2014, was acquired in the deal involving Christian Yelich in January 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Miami 1B-RF Garrett Cooper went 1-for-3 in Tuesday’s loss and is batting a robust .365 in his last 14 games.
2. Molina has lifted 68 career sacrifice flies and needs one to break Albert Pujols' franchise record.
3. Marlins OF Curtis Granderson is three runs shy of 1,200 for his career.