The St. Louis Cardinals, who have won six of their past seven games, may be off to a surprising start to some, but not to manager Oliver Marmol.

“It’s exactly what I would’ve anticipated this group to do,” Marmol said on Tuesday prior to a 5-3 Cardinals’ win over the host Miami Marlins.

On Wednesday afternoon, both teams will try to take the three-game series. St. Louis has won back-to-back series while Miami hasn’t taken a series since winning two of three against the Chicago White Sox from March 30-April 1.

The pitching matchup features a pair of right-handers, Miami’s Janson Junk (0-2, 4.50 ERA) against St. Louis’ Kyle Leahy (2-2, 5.21).

Junk has never faced the Cardinals, and the Marlins are just 1-3 when he starts this season. Junk has just one quality start out of those four, on April 6 against the Cincinnati Reds. Since then, he has allowed nine earned runs, seven earned, on 11 hits in 10 1/3 innings (6.10 ERA).

He relies on a four-seam fastball that sits 94-96 mph and off-speed stuff that includes a sweeper, a changeup and a curve.

Leahy has never started against the Marlins, but he has made four scoreless relief appearances versus them, striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.

He relies on a two-seam, sinking fastball that is used to get ground balls and a slider that is often his “out pitch,” especially against right-handers. He also uses a split-finger fastball, especially against lefties.

This year, Leahy has been strictly a starter — although he has yet to record an out in the sixth inning. The Cardinals are 2-2 in his appearances.

As for the Cardinals’ offense, right fielder Jordan Walker went 0-for-4 on Tuesday, snapping his 15-game hitting streak. He has been St. Louis’ best hitter this season, leading the team in homers (eight) and OPS (.964).

That’s a major improvement from last season when he had just six homers in 111 games and a .584 OPS.

“I think we’d all be lying if we thought Walker would have this type of start,” Marmol said. “The consistency of what he’s done has been impressive.”

Consistency isn’t at the top of the agenda for Marlins manager Clayton McCullough this week. He continues to fill out unconventional lineups, such as placing speedy second baseman Xavier Edwards in the cleanup role the past two games.

Edwards is no slugger: He has just five homers in 993 career at-bats. Yet he has produced a .915 OPS so far this season, and he still has the dynamic speed that he led him to 65 steals in 77 career attempts since making his big-league debut in 2023.

“The lineup is going to be fluid, maybe not day to day but series to series depending on who we’re playing,” McCullough said. “I think with (Edwards’) skill set, it makes it easy for me. I feel like I can put him anywhere.”

Another speedy Marlins hitter, center fielder Jakob Marsee has eight stolen bases, tied for fifth in the majors.

Marsee went 3-for-4 with a homer on Tuesday.

The long ball came on his first pitch with a new bat. On his previous swing, the bat slipped out of his hands and landed in the netting above the first base dugout. Marsee then grabbed a new bat and pulled the next pitch for a dinger down the right field line.

–Field Level Media

The Cincinnati Reds have struggled at the plate this season, languishing at or near the bottom of several key offensive statistics.

That changed a bit, though, after their cold bats caught fire over the past 20 innings.

Fresh off posting a season-high run total, the Reds will look to complete an undefeated six-game road trip on Wednesday afternoon when they square off against former teammate Nick Martinez and the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Reds began the trek by winning all three games vs. the Minnesota Twins, capped by scoring six runs over the final two frames of a 7-4, 10-inning victory on Sunday. Cincinnati followed with a 6-1 win in the series opener against Tampa Bay on Monday and a five-homer performance in a 12-6 victory on Tuesday.

Elly De La Cruz recorded his sixth career multi-homer performance, and Ke’Bryan Hayes, Dane Myers and Spencer Steer also went deep on Tuesday. Myers reached base four times as the Reds improved to 10-2 on the road.

“I’m really happy for our hitters. If they can breathe a little bit, they’ll be better hitters,” said Cincinnati manager Terry Francona, who is celebrating his 67th birthday on Wednesday.

Martinez (0-1, 2.45 ERA), who set career highs in wins (11), losses (14) and innings pitched (165 2/3) last season with the Reds, will be tasked with slowing down Francona’s charges on Wednesday.

“It’s gonna be a lot of fun, right?” Martinez said. “It adds another layer to the pitching game. More of a cat-and-mouse (situation).”

The 35-year-old right-hander compared his former manager (Francona) to his current skipper (Kevin Cash).

“I feel like — not a knock on Tito whatsoever — I’m playing for a younger Tito,” Martinez said of Cash, 48. “It’s been a lot of fun. Obviously, a lot of similarities. They both manage to win the game. Communication is great with both those guys. It really feels like both those guys are really rooting for their players; they care about the players. They want to see us succeed.

“And they understand how hard this game is. That’s refreshing. Knowing your manager has your back allows you to play with a certain aggressiveness that usually leads to reward.”

Martinez would like to be rewarded on Wednesday after receiving his first decision of the season in his latest trip to the mound. He yielded two runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings during a 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

The veteran is 1-0 with a 4.00 ERA in four career appearances (one start) vs. the Reds.

Cincinnati will send left-hander Brandon Williamson (2-1, 4.35 ERA) to the mound on Wednesday. Williamson improved to 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts this month after allowing one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 2-1 win over the Twins on Friday.

While likely happy with the victory, Williamson has struggled with his control. He has permitted 10 walks over his past two outings (9 1/3 innings).

Williamson, 28, has yet to face the Rays in his career.

Jonathan Aranda belted a two-run homer as part of a three-RBI night on Tuesday for Tampa Bay, which has been outscored 24-10 during a three-game losing streak.

–Field Level Media

Michael Wacha has been the brightest light amid a dismal start to the season for the Kansas City Royals.

Meanwhile, Chris Bassitt might have found a needed rhythm following a rough beginning to his Baltimore Orioles’ tenure.

The two veteran right-handers will match up in the decisive contest of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City, Mo.

Wacha (2-0, 1.00 ERA), who will turn 35 in July, is second in the majors in ERA, trailing only Jose Soriano (0.28) of the Los Angeles Angels. Wacha has yielded just three runs, eight walks and 13 hits over 27 innings of his four starts.

On Friday, Wacha gave up a two-run homer and two other hits over six innings in Kansas City’s 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

“He’s difficult against any lineup,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro.

Wacha is 3-3 with a 5.22 ERA in 13 career starts vs. Baltimore. He is 0-2 with a 5.29 ERA in three starts against the Orioles since joining Kansas City in December 2023.

The Royals, however, have some momentum after ending an eight-game losing streak with Tuesday’s 6-5 win to even this series.

“We believe in each other, and everyone in here,” star Bobby Witt Jr. told the Royals’ official website. “And that’s how we got to go about it. We got to get better every day and try to improve.”

Michael Massey belted a tying solo homer in the eighth inning and Maikel Garcia scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the ninth for the Royals, who will bid to post back-to-back victories for the first time since April 10-11.

“It’s a long season. … We have a great team,” Garcia told Royals.TV. “We just keep working, go out there and compete.”

Garcia is 4-for-9 in the series, but he’s hitless in four career at-bats vs. Bassitt (0-2, 6.19 ERA).

Bassitt allowed 10 runs over 6 1/3 innings while losing his first two starts as an Oriole this season. Since then, though, the former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher has yielded one earned run in 9 2/3 innings as Baltimore won his next two outings.

Last Friday at Cleveland, Bassitt yielded four hits and four walks over five scoreless innings of the Orioles’ 6-4 victory.

“Overall, good,” he said. “(I’m) able to just execute enough.”

Bassitt is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals, with Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino going a combined 2-for-10 vs. him.

Meanwhile, Massey’s homer served as the first hit and run allowed this season by Baltimore reliever Nico Garcia.

Pete Alonso had two hits Tuesday but is batting just .211 to open his first season with the Orioles after seven seasons with the New York Mets. However, Alonso is 3-for-7 with a home vs. Wacha.

Baltimore has lost six of its last eight games and is 2-4 on a seven-game road trip.

Fellow Orioles star Adley Rutschman came off the 10-day injury list Tuesday and hit his first home run of 2026. He’s a career .301 hitter with two homers and 10 RBIs against Kansas City.

–Field Level Media