MIAMI — San Francisco Giants rookie left-hander Andrew Suarez will celebrate a homecoming on Wednesday night when he faces the Miami Marlins for the first time.
Suarez Myles Jack Jersey , who was a local star at Columbus High as well as the University of Miami, said he will try to approach the game as a business trip.
“I will probably cherish the moment while I’m warming up,” Suarez told the Sun-Sentinel. “But once I step on the mound, it’s game time.”
The 25-year-old is 2-4 with a 5.06 ERA in nine starts this season. His slider eats up lefty batters, holding them to a .208 batting average with one homer and a .562 OPS. Righty batters are hitting .303 with seven homers and an .870 OPS, however.
Suarez was the Giants’ second-round pick in 2015. He started this season as the Giants’ No. 10 prospect overall and No. 2 among lefties. Some scouts had projected him as a two-pitch reliever with his fastball-slider mix. But, largely due to injuries to Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, Suarez is getting his shot in the rotation.
So far, the Giants are 3-6 when Suarez starts, but they have won two in a row with him on the mound.
Suarez has two quality starts this year — both of them at home. In five road starts this year, Suarez is 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
The Marlins will counter Suarez with another rookie left-hander, Caleb Smith (5-6, 3.70 ERA), who made his major league debut last year on July 17 with the New York Yankees.
This will be the 16th major league start for Smith, 26, who leads National League rookies with 79 strikeouts. In his 13 starts this season, he is averaging 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings, which is improved from his 8.7 stat line of 2017. His walk rate of 4.1 is high but yet improved from his 4.8 figure of last year.
But perhaps the biggest improvement for Smith has been cutting his hits per nine innings from 10.1 to 6.6.
The Marlins are 6-7 when they hand the ball to Smith, who has four quality starts this season. In addition, the Marlins have won three of the past four Smith starts. Smith has pitched well at Marlins Park Yannick Ngakoue Jersey , going 2-2 with a 2.90 ERA in six starts. That compares well to his 3-4, 4.41 mark on the road.
Over his past seven starts, Smith — who has never faced the Giants — is 4-3 with a 3.16 ERA.
Neither Suarez (92.1 mph) or Smith (92.7 mph) is overpowering in terms of their average velocity. But Suarez, with plus control and a plus slider, distinguished himself in the minors, going 10-10 with a 3.21 ERA last year between Double A and Triple A.
That success helped earn him a shot at the majors, and now he gets to pitch in front of his home crowd.
“Being able to pitch against the Marlins should be fun,” Suarez said. “I’ve been watching the Marlins since I was little.”
Suarez will be trying to stop the Giants’ two-game losing streak. Miami has won the first two games of this series, including Tuesday’s 3-1 victory in which four Marlins pitchers held the Giants to three hits.
Marlins shortstop JT Riddle had the go-ahead hit, a two-run double, and second baseman Starlin Castro went 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, who entered this series red hot, has gone 0-for-6 with two RBIs in the two games. He is still hitting an impressive .329.
HOUSTON — On Sunday, it was shortstop Carlos Correa who played a pivotal role in keeping Houston’s winning streak alive, belting a game-tying home run in the eighth inning as the Astros subsequently rolled to an 11th consecutive victory by rallying past the Kansas City Royals.
Houston (48-25) relied on a number of contributors to complete a 10-0 road trip through Texas, Oakland and Kansas City, with Correa following Evan Gattis, Max Stassi, Brian McCann and an assortment of others in striking the decisive blow to keep the line moving.
The Astros have benefited from a resurgent offense and exceptional work from their bullpen to set a pace as the hottest team in the majors, with their stellar road trip underscoring their might.
“This was incredible just by the way we played and the way we completed games,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “Obviously Carson Tinker Jersey , winning every game is incredible. We did it in a lot of different ways and so we want to keep the same intent and the same mentality that we’ve been playing with. It’s been pretty remarkable.
“It’s hard to put into words. It’s been somebody different every night. We’ve had good pitching; we’ve had good defense. We’ve rallied late, we’ve blown guys out early, so we’re in a good place right now and we’ve got to continue to do that going home.
“It was a long trip. We played in some hot weather. It’s a pretty resilient group to keep playing well and coming up with enough runs to win.”
Now the Astros return to Minute Maid Park to start a nine-game homestand on Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays. After improving to 29-11 on the road, the Astros are aiming to elevate their play at home, where they’ve been only slightly better than pedestrian (19-14).
“Hopefully, we can go home and keep grinding and keep playing the way we’ve been playing,” Correa said.
Right-hander Gerrit Cole (8-1, 2.40 ERA) gets the starting nod for the Astros. Cole will face the Rays for the first time in his career. He allowed a season-high four runs in his previous start, working six innings and getting six strikeouts in a 13-5 win at Oakland on June 13.
Cole is 4-0 with a 3.89 ERA in his previous six starts, surrendering eight home runs during that stretch.
Right-hander Ryan Stanek (1-1, 2.55) will start the series opener for the Rays. It will mark the sixth start and 16th appearance of the season for Stanek, who has yet to face the Astros.
After working out of the bullpen three times in his first four appearances this month, Stanek logged consecutive abbreviated starts against the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees on June 12 and 16, respectively.
Stanek’s outing against the Astros will mark the third consecutive bullpen day for the Rays (33-38), who claimed the finale of a four-game set in New York on Sunday behind 4 2/3 innings from right-hander Wilmer Font and four additional relievers.
The Rays welcomed back shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria from the 10-day disabled list, with Hechavarria finishing 3-for-4 with a run scored against the Yankees.
Hechavarria, who missed nearly a month with a right hamstring strain, is expected to play behind rookie Willy Adames and could be showcased as a trade chip in advance of the nonwaiver trade deadline.
