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Marlins aim for series win over visiting Phillies

May 11, 2011 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - After coming out on top in a much anticipated battle of aces, the Florida Marlins try to record their first home series victory over the Philadelphia Phillies since 2009 in tonight's rubber match of a three-game set at Sun Life Stadium.

After the Phillies grabbed a victory in Monday's opener, aces Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson squared off for their respective clubs in last night's meeting. The expected pitchers' duel came to fruition, with the teams combining for just three runs. Luckily for Florida, it plated one more than Philadelphia for a 2-1 victory.

The win was just the Marlins' fourth in their last 20 at home versus the Phillies, and they haven't taken a series in Miami in this set since winning two of three on Sept. 22-23, 2009.

Johnson did not get the win even though he gave up just a run on six hits over seven innings as the Marlins did not plate their go-ahead run until Chris Coghlan's single in the eighth inning scored Omar Infante, who had reached base on an error by Jimmy Rollins.

That was enough for Halladay to take the loss after he was charged with two runs -- one earned -- on five hits in a complete-game effort. Halladay had won his last 13 starts against National League East opponents.

"This game came as advertised. It was a great performance by both starters," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "The fans had a lot of fun out there."

Emilio Bonifacio also knocked in a run for the Marlins, who won for just the second time in six games and beat the Phillies for just the third time in the past 14 meetings overall. They did, however, pull within two games of Philadelphia for first place in the division.

Ryan Howard hit a solo homer and Shane Victorino extended his hitting streak to 13 straight games for the Phillies, who have alternated wins and losses over their last six and will try to avoid losing two straight for the first time since April 25-26.

Philadelphia left 10 men on base and allowed Johnson to get out of a pair of bases-loaded situations.

"We had chances early," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's a tough way to lose the game, but it happens."

The Phillies will hope to give co-ace Cliff Lee a little more run support tonight in an effort to get the left-hander his first win since April 14.

Lee is 0-2 with a 3.33 earned run average in four starts since his last victory, with the Phillies scoring just five runs for him in that span. Lee has four double-digit strikeout games in his seven starts, including a career- best 16 in a 5-0 loss to the Braves on Friday. Still, the 32-year-old gave up three runs over seven innings and didn't seem impressed that he matched Steve Carlton's club record for the most strikeouts in a nine-inning game by a left- handed pitcher.

"I don't really care about the strikeouts that much, to be honest," Lee said. "We lost the game, so who cares?"

The former American League Cy Young Award winner is 2-3 with a 3.69 ERA on the season and is third in the majors with 60 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. He is 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA in two career starts against Florida.

The Marlins send to the hill undefeated righty Ricky Nolasco, who is 3-0 with a 3.23 ERA in seven starts.

Nolasco, though, has yet to win consecutive outings this year. After beating the Reds on May 1, he did not factor into the decision of a 3-2 loss to Washington on Friday after allowing two runs on six hits over seven innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts.

The 28-year-old righty, who notched the 12th double-digit strikeout game of his career, is 6-3 with a 3.78 ERA in his career versus the Phillies.