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Marlins-Braves Preview

Sep 27, 2009 - 11:46 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Florida (83-72) at Atlanta (84-70), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Atlanta and Florida needed strong finishes to have a shot at a playoff spot. While the Marlins are stumbling, the Braves have stepped up and Jair Jurrjens has been a big part of their success.

Jurrjens looks to win his fourth straight start and help extend the Braves' winning streak to seven in a matchup with the Marlins on Monday night.

Atlanta (85-70) swept a three-game series with Washington over the weekend, winning the finale 6-3 in 10 innings Sunday to remain within 2 1/2 games of NL wild-card leading Colorado with seven to play.

A victory in the opener of this three-game series would give the Braves - a season-high 15 games over .500 - their second seven-game winning streak this month.

"It's got to the point now where we've got so much faith in the team that no one wants to be that last out, or no one wants to be the guy that is responsible for the loss," Atlanta reliever Peter Moylan said. "It's a lot of fun, and we're just going to keep hoping things fall our way."

Florida (83-73), meanwhile, lost two of three against the lowly New York Mets, including a 4-0 defeat Sunday. The Marlins fell five games behind the Rockies with six to play.

After going 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Pat Misch and New York, Florida must now contend with Jurrjens (13-10, 2.70 ERA).

The right-hander has posted a 0.82 ERA in winning his last three starts. He has never won four in a row.

"It's really a shame he's had some bad luck this year," Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said, "and suffered from a lack of run support. Or else he'd definitely be in the running for a Cy Young Award. It's not a stretch to say that with a little luck this year he could have 18 wins right now."

Jurrjens gave up one run in seven innings of Atlanta's 3-1 victory over New York on Tuesday night.

He is 2-1 with a 5.46 ERA in five starts versus the Marlins.

Florida will counter with Anibal Sanchez (3-7, 4.01), who is 2-3 with a 2.58 ERA in his last seven starts. The right-hander is coming off his best outing of the season, allowing two hits and striking out seven in eight innings to earn a win in Florida's 3-0 victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

Sanchez is 3-4 with a 4.63 ERA in eight starts against the Braves.

Atlanta is averaging 6.1 runs over its last 16 games, winning 14.

Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar went 2 for 4 with an RBI on Sunday. He's batting .342 in 21 home games against the Marlins.

Dan Uggla is 6 for 14 against Jurrjens while Hanley Ramirez is 5 for 14 with three homers, a triple and a double. The duo, though, combined to go 1 for 8 on Sunday.

Uggla is hitting .125 over his last nine games.

Florida may be without right fielder Cody Ross for the rest of the season after being hit by a pitch in a 9-6 win over the Mets on Saturday night. Ross, who has a career-high 24 home runs and 90 RBIs, said there was a lot of swelling the day after.

The Marlins have not lacked production at the plate in their last two games against the Braves, scoring 16 runs en route to winning both. Florida leads the season series 8-7.