Fairbanks lands on injured list as Red Sox sweep two
Pete Fairbanks joins Andrew Nardi on the injured list as the Marlins fall to 67-66 after consecutive home losses to Boston, four games back in the NL Wild Card race.
Boston wins both at loanDepot park
Red Sox2-4Red Sox3-7The Marlins dropped both games of their set with Boston at home, losing 2-4 on August 24 and 3-7 on August 25. The two defeats followed a three-game sweep of Washington that had pushed Miami to 3-2 over its last five games, and instead sent it back under .500 territory in the standings at 67-66.
Heriberto Hernández went 1-for-5 with a home run and an RBI in the August 24 loss, the club's only run production off the long ball that night. Tyler Phillips started that game and worked 4.2 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 earned run while striking out 7 against 3 walks, but the bullpen let the rest of Boston's runs cross in a game the Marlins lost by two.
Recent News
The Marlins placed reliever Pete Fairbanks on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with right medial nerve irritation, according to MLB Trade Rumors. It's the latest hit to a bullpen that's already down Andrew Nardi, who is slated to undergo season-ending elbow surgery Friday, per Christina De Nicola of MLB.com.
Miami also designated lefty John King for assignment on August 23, per MLB Trade Rumors, thinning the relief options further as the club tries to hold its wild card position with just over a month left.
Upcoming
The Marlins host the Red Sox tonight, with Ryan Gusto taking the mound for Miami against Sonny Gray. Gray is 16-3 with a 2.79 ERA and threw 6 innings with 6 strikeouts in his last start; Gusto is winless at 0-3 with a 4.37 ERA, though his last outing against Washington was clean — 4 scoreless innings on just 62 pitches with no decision.
Boston is favored on the road, and the market expects a low-scoring game, which tracks with Gray's form and Gusto's recent efficiency even if the win-loss records tell different stories. For the Marlins to cash it, Gusto needs to turn one of those clean outings into a decision, and the shorthanded bullpen behind him needs to hold whatever lead the offense hands it.