The visiting Miami Marlins will be out to complete a disappointing season with a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.
The Marlins (61-100) recorded an 8-1 win over the listless Blue Jays (74-87) on Saturday, one day after breezing to a series-opening 15-5 victory.
The Marlins have won three games in a row and four of their past five. The Blue Jays have lost nine of their past 11 games.
The Marlins are being managed for the final two games of the season by bench coach Luis Urueta. Manager Skip Schumaker had to leave the team to go home to California because of a family medical issue.
“The boys have been playing super hard,” Urueta said. “It was a pretty easy game to manage.”
Dane Myers helped make it easy on Saturday with a three-run homer and a two-run double for a career-best five RBIs.
Former Blue Jays minor-leaguer Griffin Conine was 3-for-4 with an RBI on Saturday after going 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs in the series opener.
“Everyone is just taking care of their at-bats,” Conine said. “Everyone wants to finish strong. Hitting is contagious.”
The Marlins scored twice in the first inning Saturday after scoring three runs in the first on Friday. They have nine first-inning runs in their past four games.
“Guys are ready; they’re game-planning against the starters,” Urueta said. “It gives you a little bit of confidence to start the game.”
The Blue Jays do have something on the line on Sunday other than avoiding an embarrassing sweep. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 0-for-4 on Saturday and still needs one hit to become the sixth player in team history to reach 200 hits in a season.
Manager John Schneider said that batting Guerrero first on Sunday instead of the usual third in the order is being considered.
Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk had his 18-game hitting streak end when he was 0-for-3 with a walk on Saturday. One bright spot for the Blue Jays came when Nathan Lukes hit his first career major league home run in the first inning.
“It’s every kid’s dream to knock that off the bucket list,” Lukes said. “It was amazing.”
Lukes, 30, is the fourth-oldest Blue Jays player to hit his first career homer. It was one of four hits by Toronto.
The Marlins got five innings from Xzavion Curry (one run and two hits) and four innings from Darren McCaughan (two hits), who earned the save.
Urueta said he did not expect to use only two pitchers. It helped provide some rest for the bullpen heading into the season finale. Miami used seven relievers on Thursday in a 13-inning, 8-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
The Marlins are scheduled to start left-hander Ryan Weathers (4-6, 3.81 ERA) in the season finale. Weathers will face the Blue Jays for the first time.
The Blue Jays had not named a starter for Sunday. They likely will go with an opener followed by left-hander Ryan Yarbrough (5-2, 3.32 ERA). Yarbrough is 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA in eight career outings (three starts) against Miami.
Toronto recalled right-hander Nick Robertson from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned left-hander Easton Lucas to the Jays’ spring training complex since Buffalo’s season is over. Robertson pitched a clean ninth on Saturday.
Toronto infielder Leo Jimenez (right knee inflammation) did not play on Saturday. He jammed his knee while making a play at second base on Friday.
–Field Level Media
