Marlins Turn To Chen Looking To Even Series With Twins
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MINNEAPOLIS (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Miami Marlins will see a familiar face pitching against them on Wednesday night.
Ricky Nolasco's name is etched alongside many of the Marlins' pitching records, most notably wins (81) and strikeouts (1,001).
The veteran will make his first career start versus the team with which he spent parts of eight seasons when the host Minnesota Twins vie for an interleague series victory over Miami.
"Obviously, it's a little different facing them, but I'm pretty excited," Nolasco told the Miami Herald. "It feels like it has been a long time since I've been there, but I was there a lot of years, have a lot of great memories."
Eduardo Nunez is creating plenty of memories of late, recording his first career multi-homer performance in Tuesday's 6-4 triumph in 11 innings to improve to 23-for-55 (.418) with six homers and 13 runs scored in his last 12 games.
Wei-Yin Chen will look to stop the bleeding for the Marlins, who have yielded six runs in three of their last four outings (1-3).
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins LH Wei-Yin Chen (3-2, 4.25 ERA) vs. Twins RH Nicky Nolasco (2-4, 4.93)
Chen carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Thursday before settling for his third straight no-decision in his team's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh.
The 30-year-old native of Taiwan was charged for two runs on just one hit versus the Pirates but walked three batters for the second time in three outings.
Chen has enjoyed success against Minnesota, versus which he improved to 3-1 after allowing just one run over six strong innings in his last encounter.
Nolasco fell to 1-4 in his last six starts on Friday despite permitting three runs in 7 2/3 innings of a 4-2 setback against Tampa Bay.
The 33-year-old hasn't been giving the Target Field faithful a thrill this season, posting an 0-2 record with a bloated 6.23 ERA.
Veteran Martin Prado collected a pair of doubles in the opener and is 18-for-51 (.353) lifetime versus Nolasco.
WALK-OFFS
- Miami OF Giancarlo Stanton is mired in an 8-for-78 (.103) slump in his last 22 games.
- Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier, whose two-run blast ended Tuesday's tilt, has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 contests.
- Marlins LF Christian Yelich has collected five RBIs during his seven-game hitting streak.
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