Miami has played 153 games, which means after a long, grueling season they have nine games left to play. The Marlins are sitting at 79-74, tied with the Chicago Cubs for the last NL Wild Card spot. The Cincinnati Reds sit 0.5 GB, followed by the San Francisco Giants who just went under .500, putting them 3.0 GB, and the San Diego Padres are still hanging around at 4.0 GB. The Marlins are also 2.0 GB from the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second NL Wild Card spot, and 5.0 GB Philadelphia for the first spot. Miami owns tiebreakers over Philly, Arizona, Chicago and Cincinnati. The Giants and Padres own the tiebreaker over the Marlins.
The Marlins, ideally, have to win six of nine to hold their spot in the playoffs, although all teams except the Padres have been in the last Wild Card spot at some point in the past couple of weeks, no team has separated themselves to secure the spot. Philadelphia looks as if they are going to secure the number one spot, needing to win four games to clinch playoffs. The Diamondbacks catapulted themselves into the second spot after going on a 5-game win streak. The Marlins swept their divisional foe, the Braves, but followed up losing a series to the Mets. Coincidentally, the Cubs have lost seven of their last ten, the Reds have yet to string together a win streak of more than three games since mid-July and the Giants have lost sox of their last seven. The Padres are enjoying a good month of September, slowly creeping back in the picture at 13-5 while also being on a 7-game win streak. The inconsistency between these teams, in the fight for the third spot, is keeping Miami in playoff contention. Here is a final look at the last three series for each team:
• PHI - vs NYM, vs PIT, @ NYM
• ARZ - @ NYY, @ CWS, vs HOU
• MIA - vs MIL, @ NYM, @ PIT
• CHC - vs COL, @ ATL, @ MIL
• CIN - vs PIT, @ CLE, @ STL
• SF - @ LAD, vs SD, vs LAD
• SD - vs STL, @ SF, @ CWS
Miami will be seeing elite pitching moving forward with players such as Kodai Senga who is 3-0 against the Marlins, Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. The Marlins are in position to control their own destiny, but they'll have to play their best baseball to do so. The Marlins could see Sandy Alcantara back on the team after pitching in a rehab assignment. Without a doubt, a competitor like Sandy is doing everything he can to get back to help the Marlins make the playoffs.
There's no question the Marlins have a lot of work to do. They know it's now or never to lock in and get the job done. With the help of getting Luis Arraez healthy, Jorge Soler contributing once again, a consistent utility man in Garrett Hampson, and a hitter in Jake Burger, their best baseball is possible.
They have momentum winning four of their last six, again the goal in mind is to win six of nine to make the playoffs, but we will see after having shaky consistency this season. The final push is upon us and the best teams will make the playoffs, will Miami cement themselves as one of those teams?
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