Offishial news, 9/7/23: Week-long win streak; Sandy and Soler sidelined

Wednesday's Games

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Wednesday's Marlins MiLB Notes: OF Brian Miller (Jacksonville) played for the first time in a full month, going 2-for-4 with 3 RBI. Rare misstep for RHP Anthony Maldonado, who blew a save when he hung a breaking ball with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and allowed a game-tying home run (the Jumbo Shrimp ultimately won anyway). Eight scoreless innings for LHP Luis Palacios (Pensacola) on a hyper-efficient 79 pitches. We're in the final days of tracking the walk-less streak of INF Yiddi Cappe (Beloit), which has reached 31 consecutive games. Everybody in the Jupiter Hammerheads lineup recorded at least one hit to bail out RHP Jacob Miller (0.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K).

• The Marlins erupted for nine runs in the fifth inning, a rally improbably sparked by Jacob Stallings and Joey Wendle. Wendle homered for the first time since June 9. Jazz Chisholm Jr. continues to excel since tweaking his batting stance, raising his season OPS from .728 to .779 during those eight games.

• After a shaky opening inning, Edward Cabrera looked great in his first-ever major league relief appearance (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 72 pitches/49 strikes). Expect him to pitch bulk innings again five days from now, whether it be as a conventional starter or entering mid-game as he did in this case.

• Two very high-profile losses for the Fish. Sandy Alcantara suffered a forearm flexor strain at the end of his start on Sunday, while Jorge Soler's nagging hip tightness has led to an oblique strain. Both were placed on the injured list (15-day IL and 10-day IL, respectively). No guarantee that either make it back before the end of the regular season. As part of the corresponding roster moves, Dane Myers and Devin Smeltzer were called up, and Geoff Hartlieb is now in DFA limbo.

• NL Wild Card race updates: the Cubs, Diamondbacks and Phillies won, while the Brewers, Giants and Reds lost. The Marlins hold the third Wild Card spot by a half-game over the Diamondbacks and Reds.

• Elsewhere around the majors, the Rangers continue to implode, getting swept by the Astros by a combined score of 39-10! Tyler Glasnow tied his career high with 14 strikeouts despite working only six innings. The Dodgers officially placed Julio Urías on paid administrative leave. Ryan Pepiot will start in his place tonight.

• The Marlins have a 49.6% chance to win their series finale against the Dodgers, per FanGraphs. Last game of the club's second-to-last homestand. A victory would clinch an above-.500 home record for the season. Triple-A Jacksonville (12:05 p.m. ET), Double-A Pensacola (7:35 p.m. ET), High-A Beloit (7:35 p.m. ET) and Low-A Jupiter (6:30 p.m. ET) are all on the road.

• Candid comments from Xavier Edwards to our own Kevin Barral about how the Rays' player development approach paid "negative dividends" for him. Edwards has found his groove since the trade by focusing on consistently compiling singles over selling out for home runs. Ironically, this interview drops the day after Edwards narrowly missed a grand slam.

• It's UD Night at LoanDepot Park. Proceeds from the Marlins' special ticket package benefit The Udonis Haslem Foundation.

• Happy 28th birthday to Sandy Alcantara. The reigning NL Cy Young award winner won't be collecting any hardware this year, but he is irrefutably a top-five starting pitcher in Marlins history, ranking among the franchise's best in career starts, innings pitched, complete games, earned run average and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

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