The freefalling Miami Marlins (33-37) send a faint glimpse of hope to the mound in Josh Johnson (4-5, 4.18 ERA) when they host the Toronto Blue Jays (36-34) on Saturday at Marlins Park. Miami is 2-14 in their last 16 contests, with Johnson the only starter to have won a game in nearly three weeks. In this 16 game slide, Miami is hitting a MLB-worst .205 will also piling up a league worse 6.89 ERA.
Johnson has won both of his career starts against Toronto, most recently in June of 2009. He is 6-1 with a 1.86 ERA in his last nine interleague starts.
Toronto will send Brett Cecil (1-0, 3.60 ERA) to the hill on Saturday. Cecil struggled at the end of last year's campaign, going 0-7 with a 5.16 ERA in his final 10 starts of 2011, and had a rough spring training this year. After some time in the minors, a wave of injuries to the Toronto pitching staff saw Cecil get another chance.
For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Marlins, visit Fish Stripes. For more on the Blue Jays throughout this interleague series, visit Bluebird Banter. Head over to Baseball Nation for more news and notes from around the Major Leagues.