Cubs look to avoid series sweep against the Marlins

Miami Marlins (78-80, third in the NL East) vs. Chicago Cubs (87-71, second in the NL Central)

Chicago; Thursday, 2:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Marlins: Tyler Phillips (5-6, 3.45 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 99 strikeouts); Cubs: Matthew Boyd (9-5, 4.06 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 93 strikeouts)

LINE: Cubs -207, Marlins +167; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Miami Marlins will look to sweep a three-game series with a victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago is 87-71 overall and 45-35 in home games. The Cubs have hit 217 total home runs to rank second in the majors.

Miami has a 78-80 record overall and a 33-47 record in road games. Marlins hitters have a collective .327 on-base percentage, the fifth-best percentage in the majors.

The teams play Thursday for the sixth time this season. The Marlins are ahead 3-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Seiya Suzuki has 31 doubles, a triple, 25 home runs and 85 RBIs for the Cubs. Pete Crow-Armstrong is 12 for 44 with three doubles, a triple and four home runs over the last 10 games.

Heriberto Hernandez is fourth on the Marlins with 41 extra base hits (16 doubles, a triple and 24 home runs). Javier Sanoja is 12 for 40 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .241 batting average, 3.62 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs

Marlins: 6-4, .248 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Cubs: Alex Bregman: day-to-day (face), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow), Gavin Hollowell: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Phil Maton: 60-Day IL (knee), Shelby Miller: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ben Brown: 60-Day IL (neck), Christopher Austin: 60-Day IL (knee), Hunter Harvey: 60-Day IL (tricep), Trent Thornton: 15-Day IL (ankle), Riley Martin: 60-Day IL (elbow), Porter Hodge: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cade Horton: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Marlins: Owen Caissie: 10-Day IL (lumbar stress), Xavier Edwards: day-to-day (thumb), Max Meyer: 15-Day IL (neck), Pete Fairbanks: 15-Day IL (arm), Anthony Bender: 15-Day IL (shin), Andrew Nardi: 60-Day IL (ribs), William Kempner: 60-Day IL (elbow), Robby Snelling: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ronny Henriquez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Adam Mazur: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.