April 29-May 1: Mariners vs. Marlins Series Preview

The Miami Marlins celebrate after defeating the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on April 28, 2022 in Washington, DC. — Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Miami heads home with brand new broomsticks and gets ready for a series against Seattle.

The Miami Marlins are coming off a sweep of the division-rival Nationals and will take the field Friday night with a five-game winning streak. Miami is 10-8, good for second place in the NL East. The Fish will face an inter-league opponent for the second time this season, this time taking on the Seattle Mariners.

Here’s everything you need to know for the weekend series:

Schedule, Watch, Listen
Probable Pitchers
Recent Lineups
What To Watch For
Poll: How Will This Series Play Out?

Schedule, Watch, Listen

Friday, April 29 at 6:40 pm

Saturday, April 30 at 6:10 pm

Sunday, May 1 at 1:40 pm

TV broadcast: Bally Sports Sun on Friday; Bally Sports Florida on Saturday and Sunday (Paul Severino and J.P. Arencibia)
Radio broadcast for all 3 games: 940 AM WINZ, WAQI 710

Probable Pitchers

Friday: RHP Matt Brash vs. RHP Elieser Hernandez

Brash: 4.20 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 20.3 K%, 27.0 HardContact% in 15.0 IP
Hernandez: 5.87 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 22.1 K%, 22.1 HardContact% in 15.1 IP

Saturday: LHP Robbie Ray vs. LHP Jesús Luzardo

Ray: 3.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 17.7 K%, 33.3 HardContact% in 25.1 IP
Luzardo: 3.77 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 37.7 K%, 23.0 HardContact% in 14.1 IP

Sunday: RHP Logan Gilbert vs. RHP Sandy Alcantara

Gilbert: 0.40 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 25.9 K%, 31.8 HardContact% in 22.1 IP
Alcantara: 1.78 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 20.2 K%, 22.4 HardContact% in 25.1 IP

Projected Lineups

Mariners most recent lineup: Frazier (2B), France (1B), Winker (LF), Suárez (DH), Crawford (SS), Toro (3B), Rodriguez (CF), Kelenic (RF), Torrens (C). — *Mariners’ recent lineups.*

Marlins most recent lineup: Berti (2B), Aguilar (DH), Soler (LF), Cooper (1B), García (RF), Anderson (3B), Rojas (SS), De La Cruz (CF), Henry (C). — *Marlins’ recent lineups.*

What to watch for on…

Friday: AL Co-Player of the Week Ty France.

Ty France and Miguel Cabrera shared last week’s AL Player of the Week honors. Do you know how fantastic you have to be to nudge the future Hall of Famer aside and say your performance was in the realm of a 3,000th career hit?!
France does! He went 13-for-26 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, and a 1.436 OPS. Elieser Hernandez, the Marlins’ starting pitcher on Friday, will have his hands full with the red-hot France. On the season, he’s rarely striking out and using exquisite contact to slash .366/.446/.620.

Saturday: Can Jesús Luzardo out-duel 2021’s AL Cy Young winner?

Robbie Ray had a fantastic 2021 that earned him the AL Cy Young Award, but he’s struggled to return to that stellar form in 2022.
On the flip side, Jesús Luzardo had a disastrous and disappointing 2021 season. He’s turned it around in 2022, adding life to his four-seam fastball and creeping near the top-10 in pitchers who’ve earned the most called strikes and swing-and-misses (36.3 CSW%).

Ray and Luzardo’s 2022 MLB Rankings via Baseball Savant show Luzardo’s improvement since last season and display Ray has been less effective than he was in 2021. — Ray and Luzardo’s 2022 MLB Percentile Rankings

Sunday: Keeping Logan Gilbert from Pablo López’s lead in ERA.

2022 ERA leaders (as of 4/29): 1. Pablo López (0.39 ERA), 2. Logan Gilbert (0.40 ERA)
If Logan Gilbert felt threatened by the Mariners’ signing 2021 AL Cy Young winner Robbie Ray this offseason, his performance on the mound hasn’t shown it. He’s pitched like the ace of Seattle’s staff thus far. The only run Gilbert has allowed in 2022 was a first-inning solo shot in his first start of the year. He’s been lights out since then. Gilbert won’t be dueling Pablo López, but Sandy Alcantara isn’t so bad either.