Marlins trending up as last-place Yankees come to town

The Miami Marlins will look to record their first three-game winning streak in over a month on Friday when they open a three-game interleague series against the visiting New York Yankees.

Miami answered a five-game losing skid by following up a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday with a 5-4 triumph on Wednesday. The modest win streak pushed the Marlins into the third and final wild-card spot in the National League, a half-game ahead of both the Reds and Chicago Cubs.

Josh Bell became the first Miami player to belt a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game on Wednesday. He went deep to lead off the fourth inning and launched a three-run shot in the eighth to forge a 4-4 tie.

"Josh has been awesome," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. "Not only because of the production, and obviously the home runs, but the attention to detail in the hitters' meetings, what he does just talking with players on the defensive side on what he sees, and he's super engaged in the game, in the dugout. He's fit right in, really quick."

Bell has reached base in all eight games he has played since being acquired from the Cleveland Guardians at the trade deadline. He's hitting .323 (10-for-31) with three home runs, seven RBIs and five runs with Miami.

Bryan De La Cruz belted a solo homer in the ninth inning for the Marlins, who are seeking their first three-game win streak since capturing the first three contests of a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 3-5.

Miami will turn to left-hander Jesus Luzardo (8-6, 3.52 ERA) in the opener of the series on Friday.

Luzardo, 25, saw his winless stretch extend to four outings last Friday after he allowed four runs on six hits -- including three homers -- in a 6-2 setback to the Texas Rangers.

Luzardo didn't fare well in his lone career encounter with the Yankees. He permitted three runs on one hit in one-third of an inning to take the loss while pitching for the Oakland Athletics on June 19, 2021.

New York has lost seven of its last 11 games to find itself in the cellar of the American League East. Just don't tell that to Aaron Judge or Kyle Higashioka.

"We got a job to do on the field," Judge said after the Yankees' 9-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. "You have to focus on the game we are playing and not where we are at. I'll look at the standings right before the postseason starts."

"I don't really think about (the standings) because I think we have the ability to win every game, we just haven't put it together," Higashioka said, per NJ.com. "We gotta figure out a way to do that before it's too late."

Former Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton belted a solo homer and drove in both runs for New York on Wednesday.

The Yankees have yet to announce their starting pitcher for the series opener, however right-hander Randy Vasquez (1-1, 1.17) likely will be summoned from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to get the nod to replace the injured Carlos Rodon (hamstring).

Vasquez, 24, has yet to face the Marlins in his young career.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone, however, left the door ajar for the potential use of an opener on Friday.