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Marlins-Giants Preview

Jul 27, 2010 - 6:41 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Florida (50-49) at San Francisco (56-44), 10:15 p.m. EDT

Although Josh Johnson has never beaten the San Francisco Giants, he's never faced them when he's been pitching this well.

Baseball's ERA leader looks to earn his first victory over the Giants when the Florida Marlins continue a four-game series Tuesday night at AT&T Park.

Johnson (10-3, 1.61 ERA) has not allowed more than two runs in his last 13 starts, going 7-2 with a 0.79 ERA. The last pitcher to put together such a streak for 14 outings in a row was Houston's Mike Scott in 1986.

In addition, Johnson has allowed one run over his last 28 innings on the road.

The right-hander is 0-3 with a 3.00 ERA in four career starts against the Giants (56-44), although the Marlins (50-49) supported him with a total of five runs in those outings. Edgar Renteria (4 for 17) and Pat Burrell (2 for 15) are the Giants with the most experience against him.

Johnson struck out 11 and gave up one run in 6 1-3 innings last Thursday, not getting a decision in a 3-2 victory over Colorado.

He will get his first look at promising Giants rookie Buster Posey, who is batting .461 during a 19-game hitting streak. Posey - whose 39 hits this month lead the majors - is three games shy of matching Hall of Famer Willie McCovey's San Francisco rookie record set in 1959.

The Giants, though, had a four-game win streak snapped with a 4-3 loss Monday. San Francisco fell 3 1/2 games behind first-place San Diego in the NL West.

Florida moved over .500 for the first time since it was 28-27 on June 3. Dan Uggla and Mike Stanton each hit solo homers in the Marlins' eighth win in 10 games.

"Finally we're above .500. That's good news," manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "We all knew that we were trying to get there. Whatever we're trying to accomplish here, we all knew that we had to go over .500."

The Marlins improved to 18-11 against left-handed starters - second-best in the NL. They face two more southpaws in this series but will face right-hander Matt Cain (8-8, 3.10) on Tuesday.

Cain matched a season high with nine strikeouts and yielded three hits over eight innings Thursday in a 3-0 win at Arizona.

"Found a good rhythm and was able to throw all four pitches for strikes," Cain said. "I was working both sides of the plate with my heater and those are the kind of days you want to take advantage of."

Cain has generally been in a good rhythm against Florida, going 3-0 with a 2.83 ERA in six starts. He gave up two runs in seven innings May 6 to earn a 6-3 road victory, and he's limited Marlins sluggers Uggla and Jorge Cantu to two hits in 12 at-bats.

Florida received bad news Monday about left fielder Chris Coghlan, who is headed for the disabled list with a torn meniscus in his left knee, could need surgery and may be sidelined six to eight weeks. He was hurt while delivering a pie to the face of teammate Wes Helms following the pinch-hitter's bases-loaded single in the 11th inning Sunday of a 5-4 win over Atlanta.