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Marlins-Rays Preview

Jun 11, 2010 - 4:17 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Florida (28-31) at Tampa Bay (39-20), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The Tampa Bay Rays have developed into a major contender over the last two seasons, earning bragging rights over the Florida Marlins in the process.

The Rays look to continue their recent dominance of the Marlins on Friday night when the Citrus Series rivals meet for the first time in 2010 at Tropicana Field.

Florida (29-31) had always been the best franchise in the state, winning two World Series and holding a 34-21 all-time advantage in the series up until the 2008 season.

While the Marlins have made steady improvement with consecutive winning seasons, the Rays (39-21) have turned into a powerhouse in the same span. Tampa Bay reached its first World Series two years ago and owns the best record in baseball this year.

The Rays are 10-2 against the Marlins over the last two years, with B.J. Upton hitting .298 with 15 runs scored and Carl Crawford batting .325 with 12 runs scored in nine games.

Crawford, though, was out of the starting lineup for the second time in the past three games in Thursday's 3-2 loss to Toronto for what Rays manager Joe Maddon called "preventative maintenance." Crawford pinch ran and stole second in the ninth.

"There's nothing wrong," Maddon said. "We just want to get him off his feet, especially on the turf. He's always had trouble with this particular field."

The Rays scored 28 runs during a three-game win streak before managing six hits Thursday. Carlos Pena homered for the fourth straight game, and has gone deep five times with eight RBIs in that stretch.

"We're going to lose some games," Pena said. "It's good to see even when we come up short, at the same time we give ourselves a good opportunity to come out victorious at the end."

Florida ended a four-game slide with a 2-0 victory at Philadelphia on Thursday. Josh Johnson allowed three hits over eight stellar innings and Dan Uggla had a solo homer.

Highly touted prospect Mike Stanton went 0 for 4 two days after he had three hits in his major league debut. The 20-year-old Stanton has been used in right field in both games after hitting .311 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 52 games to earn a call-up from Double-A Jacksonville.

He'll get his first look at James Shields (5-4, 3.64), who is trying to avoid losing four straight starts for the second time in his career, having done so from June 15-July 1, 2007. Shields has posted a 5.31 ERA during this skid, allowing six runs over seven innings Saturday in a 6-1 loss at Texas.

The right-hander is 2-1 with a 4.12 ERA in six career starts against the Marlins.

Marlins slugger Hanley Ramirez is 8 for 19 in his career against Shields while Uggla is 3 for 14.

Florida starter Anibal Sanchez (5-3, 3.18) will try to bounce back after having his career-high four-start win streak snapped in his last outing. Sanchez allowed four runs over 5 2-3 innings last Friday in a 4-3 loss at the New York Mets.

The right-hander, who has never faced Tampa Bay, went 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA over his previous four starts.