Marlins week in review: A winning week for Miami, despite a slow start to road trip

The Miami Marlins put together a winning record this week and have a winning record on the season again.

That’s the positive.

Now, they need to figure out how to keep those winning ways going as they maneuver through their first of two three-city road trips over the course of the next month.

After sweeping the Washington Nationals at home to begin the week, the Marlins went 1-2 against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park over the weekend to cap a 4-2 week. They are 24-23 on the season and in third place in the National League East, one-half of a game behind the New York Mets and five-and-a-half games behind the division-leading Atlanta Braves.

The series loss against the Giants puts the Marlins at 8-7 in season series so far in 2023. Four of those seven losses were to the Braves and Mets, two apiece against the divisional foes. Miami split its two series with the Giants and Cubs and dropped its first series against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Giants series this weekend was the start of a three-team, 10-game West Coast trip with no off days. Miami next plays four against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field before ending the trip with three games against the Los Angeles Angels next weekend.

After that, it’s a nine-game homestand before another three-city road trip, this time three-games apiece against the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Nationals.

Indeed, a lot of travel upcoming.

But also an opportunity to make a move, starting with the rest of this road trip. The Rockies (19-28) have the worst record in the National League, just got swept by the Texas Rangers by a combined score of 31-10 over three games and have dropped six of their last 10 overall. The Angels, like the Marlins, are hovering around .500 at 25-23.

500 hits for Arraez

Every time Luis Arraez steps into the batter’s box, he has just one thought on his mind.

“I want to win the battle,” Arraez said.

It doesn’t matter the team he’s facing, the pitcher he’s facing, the score, the game situation, the count. If Arraez is batting, the goal is to make contact, to put the ball in play and, ultimately, get hits.

Usually, that’s easier said than done. Baseball is a game of failure, after all.

But not for Arraez, who seems to get a hit nearly every time he’s up to bat. The 26-year-old infielder, in his first season with the Miami Marlins after being acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Twins and fifth MLB season overall, already has a batting title to his name and is viewed as one of the league’s steadiest hitters.

Arraez hit the latest milestone of his still burgeoning career on Wednesday when he logged his 500th career hit in just his 428th career game.

For Arraez, that achievement is just the start of many big goals.

“It’s a lot of hits,” Arraez said, “but I need to keep playing. I want more. I don’t know how many, but I want more.”

Read the full story here.

Game recaps from the week

▪ Tuesday — Marlins 5, Nationals 4: Jorge Soler hit a walk-off home run to cap a thrilling ninth-inning rally to begin the series.

▪ Wednesday — Marlins 4, Nationals 3: Edward Cabrera set the tone and Miami’s offense did enough to support him.

▪ Thursday — Marlins 5, Nationals 3: Top Marlins prospect Eury Perez earned his first MLB win to complete Miami’s sweep of Washington.

▪ Friday — Giants 4, Marlins 3: San Francisco got to Sandy Alcantara in the sixth and took the lead for good.

▪ Saturday — Marlins 1, Giants 0: Braxton Garrett, with help from his cutter, had his best start of the season and the Marlins scored a run late support him.

▪ Sunday — Giants 7, Marlins 5: Jorge Soler had his first four-hit game since 2019, including his 12th home run of the season, but Miami dropped its series finale against San Francisco.

Enhancing ballpark experience

With Major League Baseball’s introduction of the pitch clock this season to shorten ballgames, checking out a Miami Marlins game is faster than ever.

To try and leverage the quicker nine innings, Marlins business officials are using technology to enable fans to spend less time on things like parking and buying food at the concession stands. People can use apps on their phones for both of those things.

Additionally, there’s enhancements for moms with babies and toddlers in tow at the ballpark and those fans who just want a break from the crowd noise. All of this is aimed at improving the fan experience during the shorter Marlins’ games.

For the full story from my Miami Herald colleague Michael Butler, click here.

In case you missed it

▪ Consistency — and quoting Bob Marley — key for Bryan De La Cruz during hit streak

▪ What exactly happened that resulted in Jacob Stallings and Skip Schumaker being ejected on Friday?

▪ Five stats that stood out about the first quarter of the Marlins’ season.

Upcoming Marlins schedule

Monday: Marlins @ Rockies, 8:40 p.m.

Tuesday: Marlins @ Rockies, 8:40 p.m.

Wednesday: Marlins @ Rockies, 8:40 p.m.

Thursday: Marlins @ Rockies, 3:10 p.m.

Friday: Marlins @ Angels, 9:38 p.m.

Saturday: Marlins @ Angels, 10:07 p.m.

Sunday: Marlins @ Angels, 4:07 p.m.