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Mets-Marlins Preview

May 16, 2010 - 4:45 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

New York (18-18) at Florida (18-18), 1:10 p.m. EDT

A sweep of the New York Mets would be the highlight of an already successful week for the Florida Marlins.

The Marlins look to continue their early season dominance of the struggling Mets on Sunday by recording the first four-game sweep of their NL East rivals in almost six years.

Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu each had three hits while Cameron Maybin tied a career high with three RBIs as Florida (19-18) beat New York for the fifth straight time this season, 7-5 Saturday.

After two straight losses in Washington, the Marlins opened the week by winning two of three at Chicago then returned home to take the first three against the Mets (18-19) and surpass the .500 mark for the first time since May 2.

Florida hasn't swept a four-game set from New York since Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2004 at Shea Stadium.

"We're still trying to find ourselves," said Saturday's winning pitcher Nate Robertson, "and winning three games against a division rival is big."

Losers of four in a row, the Mets are 4-10 since closing April with an eight-game winning streak that briefly propelled them to the top of the division. New York, 4-11 on the road, is below .500 for the first time since April 24.

After posting three runs and eight hits in the first two games of this set, New York manager Jerry Manuel changed his lineup by moving Jose Reyes out of the third spot and back to his more familiar lead-off role Saturday.

Hitting .221, Reyes had his first two hits in 13 at-bats against Florida this season, and scored twice as the Mets' pounded out 13 hits. Their pitching staff, meanwhile, allowed at least six runs for the fourth time in five games.

"At least we saw some life in the offense," Manuel said. "That's a good sign."

Florida has swung the bats well over the last two games, totaling 14 runs and 23 hits. Ramirez is 5 for 8 in the series, and batting .375 in six games against the Mets in 2010.

The Marlins look to stay hot at the plate against New York's Jonathon Niese (1-1, 4.58 ERA), who hasn't gotten a decision in his last two starts.

The left-hander, who yielded six runs and five walks in 4 1-3 innings of an 8-6 win over Washington on Tuesday, allowed three runs in six innings of his only appearance against the Marlins, a 3-1 loss April 8.

After another strong road start, Florida's Ricky Nolasco (3-2, 3.66) again tries for his first home win of the season.

Nolasco is 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA on the road this season, but 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA in three home outings. The right-hander allowed one run in seven innings of a 3-2 win at Chicago on Tuesday.

"When you've got Ricky on the mound, you know you can score three runs and probably win because he's such a great pitcher," infielder Gaby Sanchez told the Marlins' official website.

Nolasco hasn't been great against the Mets, going 3-6 with a 6.01 ERA in 14 starts.