The Marlins have won four straight. Next up, a chance for their first series sweep
Welcome to Bulletin Board Material, the Miami Herald’s weekday roundup covering everything in the South Florida sports scene. A lot of news to recap. Let’s get right to it.
The secret behind the Marlins' recent surge
It was another low-scoring affair, another game that relied came down to which team could find the right hit at the right time.
That right hit came in the Marlins' favor.
Yadiel Rivera, who had all of two hits this season, extended the Marlins' win streak to four straight with a walk-off single in the 10th inning to defeat the Phillies 2-1 on Tuesday.
And with that, the Marlins now have the longest win streak in the National League. They have also won five of their last six games to improve to 11-18 on the season.
Now the Marlins still have a long road ahead of them. They are seven games back in the NL East after 29 games and own the third-worst record in the NL ahead of just the 7-23 Reds and 11-20 Padres.
However, the Marlins are also beginning to find their groove.
And while the win streak came down to an extra-inning hit on Tuesday, Miami's recent success has come in large part due to the evolution of its pitching staff as of late.
Jarlin Garcia, who gave up just one run in six innings of work on Tuesday, is third in MLB with a 1.09 ERA over 33 innings this season. The Marlins overall have given up two runs or fewer in six of their last eight games.
The Marlins go for their first series sweep of the season at 7:10 p.m. against the Phillies.
Jose Urena (0-4, 4.91 ERA) earns the start for the Marlins against Philadelphia's Aaron Nola (3-1, 2.58)
New podcast alert
The picking is done.
The picking apart has begun.
We probably won't know for a few years if the Dolphins were wise to take Minkah Fitzpatrick instead of trading up for a quarterback or for taking Mike Gesicki over Dallas Goedert.
But that won't stop us from pontificating about the Dolphins' needs-based draft. Miami Herald Dolphins writers Armando Salguero and Adam H. Beasley break it all down on our latest podcast - and drop nuggets on potential moves still to come.
More news and notes
▪ Here is what NFL teams are saying about their newly drafted players out of the University of Miami.
▪ Some big concerns and more fallout could emerge for the Dolphins.
▪ Dolphins receiver Danny Amendola has a message for those who went undrafted.
▪ Mad the Patriots landed Berrios, Dolphins fans? It could have been much worse.
▪ A Miami track star was accused of attempted car theft.
▪ New Marlin Starlin Castro is receiving praise for his hustle and work ethic.
This story was originally published May 2, 2018 at 9:55 AM with the headline "The Marlins have won four straight. Next up, a chance for their first series sweep."