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Marlins-Reds Preview

Sep 20, 2009 - 4:16 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Florida (79-69) at Cincinnati (68-80), 1:10 p.m. EDT

The thrill of a playoff race might be what's helped the Florida Marlins overcome their recent struggles in Cincinnati.

Still in the mix for a postseason berth, the Marlins look for a third straight victory Sunday while trying to win their first series over the Reds at Great American Ballpark in four years.

One night after scoring four times in the ninth to win 4-3, pinch-hitter Ross Gload hit a two-run homer in the eighth to give Florida (80-69) a 3-2 win Saturday.

The Marlins have won 12 of 17 and are four games behind wild-card leader Colorado with 13 remaining. Florida is seven games back of first-place Philadelphia in the NL East.

"We just have to worry about ourselves," Saturday's winning pitcher Ricky Nolasco said. "Sure we scoreboard watch, but the only thing we can control is our game. We just want in."

The Marlins have won two in a row at Cincinnati after losing nine straight dating to April 18, 2006. Their last series win at Great American Ballpark came from Aug. 5-7, 2005.

Jorge Cantu homered and Gload recorded his 19th pinch-hit, tying Lenny Harris for Florida's single-season club record set in 2005.

"I never grew up wanting to be a really good pinch hitter, so I don't keep track," Gload said.

Chris Coghlan had two hits Saturday for the Marlins, who are 4-1 in their last five contests - four have been decided by one run and the other by two. The rookie outfielder is batting .310 and is 7 for 13 in the first three games of this set.

Rookie Sean West (7-5, 4.60 ERA) will try for a fourth straight victory while making his first start against the Reds in this contest.

The 6-foot-8 left-hander allowed one run and struck out a career-high nine in six innings of a 2-1 win at NL Central-leading St. Louis on Tuesday. West is 3-0 with a 4.32 ERA in his last five starts.

"I thought the kid earned a stripe (in his last start)," manager Fredi Gonzalez told the Marlins' official Web site. "On his way to becoming a major league pitcher, he took a big step forward.

"Hopefully now he can build on that. You see the potential in there. Now, it's a matter of him building."

West must be aware of Cincinnati's talented rookie center fielder Drew Stubbs, who homered Saturday for the eighth time in 31 games since making his major league debut last month.

Stubbs has homered in three of his last five games for the Reds (68-81), who've dropped two straight at home after winning a season-high eight in a row there.

Kip Wells (1-4, 5.23) takes the ball for the Reds after he gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings, but didn't receive a decision in a 5-4 win over Houston on Tuesday.

The right-hander, who's 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA in five starts since Cincinnati signed him after he was released by Washington on July 1, is 4-3 with a 2.01 ERA in eight starts against Florida, but hasn't faced the Marlins since 2007.