The Miami Marlins look to end their 10-game homestand on a winning note when they host the Washington Nationals in the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday.

After splitting the first two games, Miami is 3-6 on its homestand which began with series losses to the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles.

Sunday’s starters will be Washington’s Cade Cavalli (1-2, 4.15 ERA) against fellow right-hander Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 4.01) for Miami.

Alcantara, 30, appeared to be returning to the form that made him a Cy Young Award winner in 2022 when he strung together three straight outings in which he allowed three earned runs or less. He took a step back in his last start, however, allowing seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision Tuesday against the Orioles, raising his ERA by nearly a full run.

“Pitch count ran up, Pete (Alonso) hooks the ball down the line for a couple of runs and we have a little trouble handling down there,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Get another guy to third base and just some times today where he had some counts in his favor, he just didn’t execute well enough with (two strikes).”

Despite the outing, Alcantara is expected to once again be one of the hottest commodities at the trade deadline.

He is 8-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 16 starts against the Nationals.

Cavalli, 27, closed out April with a couple of strong starts but struggled in his first May outing, giving up six runs (three earned) in four innings of a loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.

Cavalli had a fielding error that contributed to his tough night. He gave up five hits and walked three.

“I felt great all night, that’s the thing,” he said. “It’s not like I was erratic, throwing crazy pitches. It was competitive and just untimely hits. That’s baseball, and I’m going to get back to work and get ready to go on day five.”

Cavalli is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts versus Miami.

Cavalli will be challenged if the Marlins can carry over their offensive approach from Saturday. Miami fell behind 4-0, then scored eight unanswered runs before holding on in the ninth for an 8-7 win.

Jakob Marsee hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to put the Marlins up 7-4. Xavier Edwards had tied it 4-4 in the seventh when he hit his second homer in as many days. Kyle Stowers had three hits including a home run.

“Some really good at-bats. Some slug. Come back in a game we were down to start with,” McCullough said. “Offensively this is probably one of our best performances on this homestand and in a while.”

Luis Garcia Jr. had three hits and James Wood homered and doubled for Washington, which had won three straight and got the tying run on base during a three-run ninth.

“This group, what they’ve done all year to this point is they continue to fight, they continue to have good at-bats,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “They never feel like they’re out of it, even when you get a gut punch like we did that inning before.”

–Field Level Media

The Athletics aren’t surprised about their rising levels of success as they look for a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles when they close out a road trip Sunday afternoon.

“The expectation level was there,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “For us as a club, we’ve gotten better each year. Big emphasis on defense. Our emphasis on the mound is throwing strikes and not giving up free bases, which I think we did a good job with (Saturday). Those areas of improvement have allowed us to have some consistency in the way we play.”

Saturday’s 6-2 victory gave the Athletics a three-game winning streak for only the second time this season, maintaining their 2 1/2-game lead atop the American League West.

“The group has matured,” Kotsay said. “Obviously, you’d like to accelerate the progress.”

The Orioles have hit a rough patch with a three-game losing streak and defeats in eight of their last 10 games. Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said the number of strikeouts for the team’s batters (11) was concerning Saturday.

The Athletics like how Zack Gelof has adjusted to playing at third base. He had been groomed as an outfielder, but he made a couple of notable plays in the infield Saturday.

“The athleticism showed,” Kotsay said. ” … He’s settling in right now and he looks really comfortable over there.”

Athletics slugger Nick Kurtz carries a 33-game on-base streak into Sunday’s game. That’s the longest active streak in the majors, and it paid off Saturday as he scored half of the team’s six runs.

Right-hander Luis Severino (2-3, 4.15 ERA) gets the call on the mound for the Athletics and he’ll be aiming for his fourth consecutive solid start. He won two straight outings before being tagged with the loss Tuesday in Philadelphia while giving up one run in five innings. Each of his last three starts have involved yielding one run, with the other two outings lasting at least into the seventh inning.

Severino is 7-4 with a 5.38 ERA in 15 matchups (13 starts) against Baltimore. Of his 75 career victories, he owns more against the Orioles than any other team.

The Athletics have received good coverage from relievers the past few games.

“We’re going to go through games where the bullpen doesn’t have success,” Kotsay said. “That’s just part of the season. It’s never going to go perfect. For us, our bullpen, I think, has been a strength.”

The Orioles turn to right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.91 ERA), who had his second-shortest outing of the season (four innings) Tuesday at Miami, where he gave up four runs in a no-decision. Baltimore has won the last five games Bassitt has started.

Bassitt holds a 3-1 record with a 4.20 ERA in eight career outings (seven starts) versus the Athletics.

The Orioles had infielder Blaze Alexander available off the bench after he sat out Friday with a calf injury.

“I just felt something a little different in my calf,” he said of the ailment, which resulted in only a one-day absence.

The Orioles had infielder Jose Barrero on hand Saturday from Triple-A Norfolk in case Alexander needed to be put on the injured list, but that wasn’t the case.

–Field Level Media

Following a sluggish start to their season, the Boston Red Sox will enter Sunday’s rubber game with the visiting Tampa Bay Rays seeking their fifth victory in their last six games.

Although Boston is battling with Baltimore to stay out of the American League East cellar, the Red Sox have surrendered three runs or fewer in nine of their last 13 games. Boston’s pitching staff has a 2.79 ERA during that 13-game span, and the bullpen got a little stronger Saturday.

Before Saturday’s game against Tampa Bay was postponed by rain, the Red Sox announced that reliever Justin Slaten was activated from the injured list after missing more than a month with an oblique strain. Slaten has a 0.00 ERA with five strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings during four appearances this season.

“Another back-end piece that can just lengthen the bullpen out, so it’s big to have him back,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said Saturday. “I think everybody knows when Slaten’s healthy and in there, between him, (setup man Garrett) Whitlock and (closer Aroldis Chapman) we’re going to rely on those guys at the back end of the bullpen, right? It’s like adding an extra guy into a lineup.

“So having that, especially on a day where you look up and all three of them are available, you shorten the game – or you feel like you can. Doesn’t mean they’re invincible, but you feel like you can make it really, really difficult on a team for the last nine outs.”

Slaten had a 4.24 ERA in 36 appearances during an injury-plagued 2025 season, but posted a 2.93 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings in 2024, his rookie season.

The Rays and Red Sox split the first two games of what was shortened to a three-game series. Saturday’s postponed game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on July 17.

Pitching hasn’t been an issue for Tampa Bay this season, either. The Rays have gone a franchise-record 15 consecutive games without allowing more than three earned runs. Friday night’s 2-0 loss to Boston ended the team’s seven-game winning streak and was Tampa Bay’s second loss in its last 15 games.

Mason Englert was activated from the injured list Friday and pitched the final 3 1/3 innings of Friday’s loss without allowing a run, but was sent to Triple-A Durham on Saturday.

“Mason did one heck of a job for us,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “It was unique coming off the IL in that circumstance. His efficiency and strike-throwing allowed him (to go that long) and freshen up the rest of the guys in the bullpen.”

Cash said Saturday’s postponed game won’t alter the team’s rotation, which means right-hander Nick Martinez (3-1, 1.71 ERA) will start Sunday, and Drew Rasmussen, who was originally scheduled to pitch Sunday, will start Monday’s game in Toronto.

Martinez has won his last three starts, giving up two runs in 20 innings. Martinez is 1-3 with a 5.80 ERA in nine career appearances (five starts) against the Red Sox.

Boston will counter with lefty Payton Tolle (1-1, 2.04). Like Martinez, Tolle was scheduled to pitch Saturday.

It will be Tolle’s first career start against Tampa Bay but he did allow a run on two hits in one inning during a relief appearance against the Rays last September.

Sunday’s start will come just over two years after Tolle’s mother, Jina, died following an eight-year battle with colon cancer.

–Field Level Media