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Padres-Marlins Preview

Jun 25, 2010 - 4:50 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

San Diego (42-29) at Florida (35-36), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Edwin Rodriguez has been the Florida Marlins' interim manager for two games. It's unclear how much longer he'll hold that title.

Back in Miami for the first time since manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired, the Marlins open a three-game series with the NL West-leading San Diego Padres on Friday.

With the team 34-36 and trailing by 7 1/2 games in the NL East, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria fired Gonzalez on Wednesday, and the team immediately promoted Rodriguez from Triple-A New Orleans.

Marlins team president David Samson said Wednesday that he had already spoken with Bobby Valentine about the managerial opening, and according to a report on MLB.com on Thursday, the former New York Mets and Texas Rangers manager will interview for the position Friday in South Florida.

While the front office decides whether to hire an outside candidate or let Rodriguez keep the job, the Marlins (35-37) will try to bounce back from Thursday's 11-5 loss at Baltimore. Florida had won three straight, including a 7-5 victory on Wednesday in Rodriguez's debut, and was trying to move back to .500 for the first time since June 4. The Marlins, though, couldn't hold on to a 3-0, second-inning lead.

"It's disheartening when you have a sweep on the line and you've got a 3-0 lead against (Kevin) Millwood," left-hander Nate Robertson said after giving up five runs in a season-low 2 1-3 innings.

Before beginning a three-game series in Puerto Rico on Monday against the Mets, the Marlins face a Padres club that took two of three from Tampa Bay to open its six-game trip.

"Two out of three on the road in this environment against this club, a good feat accomplished," San Diego manager Bud Black said following Thursday's 5-3 loss.

The Padres (42-30) - an NL-best 19-14 on the road - took two of three in Miami from April 26-28, and have won their last two series at Sun Life Stadium.

Clayton Richard (4-4, 2.93 ERA) will try to get San Diego off to a good start in this series following his worst outing of the season. The left-hander gave up five runs and eight hits in Saturday's 5-4 loss to Baltimore.

"His stuff was good, but his secondary pitches weren't as crisp as we've seen of late," Black told the Padres' official website.

Since winning a career-best three consecutive starts last month, Richard is 0-2 with a 3.27 ERA in his last five outings.

This will be his first appearance versus Florida.

The Marlins give the ball to Chris Volstad (4-6, 4.39), who is 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA in two starts versus San Diego.

Volstad should be careful pitching to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who is batting .423 with seven homers and 20 RBIs since June 1. Gonzalez, the No. 1 overall pick by the Marlins in 2000, went 3 for 9 with two RBIs in the April series against Florida.

Marlins first baseman Gaby Sanchez, who was 2 for 6 with two RBIs in that series, has five straight multihit games and is batting .472 (17 for 36) during an eight-game hitting streak.