The Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves will open a 5-game set tonight at Truist Park with a doubleheader slated for Saturday. The 56-57 Marlins were a pushover early in the season but that has changed. The Marlins have won 10 of their last 14, are 6 back of the final wild card spot, and the rest of the NL had better start taking notice. The 47-66 Braves are doing just the opposite, losing 11 of their last 14, and their expected starter for tonight, Carlos Carrasco, is not the answer. Carrasco is 2-2 with an elevated ERA of 5.68 and a 1.53 WHIP. Miami will counter with Eury Pérez, who has been in the zone. Pérez is 4-3 with a 2.70 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.94, and over his last 6 starts, Pérez is 4-1 with a 1.06 ERA. It doesn’t get better than that. The Marlins have won 3 of the last 4 meetings this year with the Braves, play well on the road at 28-26, and are 5-1 in their last 6 road games against a team with a losing record.
TONIGHT’S PICK: MIAMI MARLINS