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Giants aim to rebound vs. Marlins minus Posey

May 26, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - Not only did the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants lose their second straight game last night, but they could be without star catcher Buster Posey for some time due to a left ankle injury.

The Giants will close out a three-game series with the Florida Marlins this afternoon at AT&T Park and are not expected to have Posey in the lineup after he went down in Wednesday's 7-6 loss in 12 innings. Posey, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, was involved in a home-plate collision with Scott Cousins in the top of the 12th inning and received X-rays afterwards. He's expected to undergo an MRI Thursday morning.

"He's one of the leaders of the team already," Giants right fielder Nate Schierholtz said of Posey on the club's website. "What he brings every day, you can't replace."

Cousins was safe at home and the Giants were retired in the bottom of the 12th inning to suffer their second loss since a five-game winning streak. Eli Whiteside replaced Posey behind the plate and will most likely be there for today's game. Posey had a hit in the loss to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and is batting .284 with four homers and 21 RBI.

Freddy Sanchez finished with four hits, Aubrey Huff knocked in a pair of runs and Madison Bumgarner did not record a decision for giving up three runs in six innings of work. Guillermo Mota was dealt the loss for surrendering the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th.

After today's game the Giants will pack up and hit the road for seven games against the Brewers and Cardinals. They will send the unbeaten Ryan Vogelsong to the mound Thursday and he's 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in seven games (5 starts) this season. Vogelsong did not record a decision the last time out in a 2-1 win over Oakland, as he allowed one unearned run in six innings with five K's.

Vogelsong, a right-hander, hasn't yielded an earned run in each of his last three starts and is 0-1 in four relief appearances against the Marlins.

Florida has won two straight and four of five games, and improved to 2-0 on a nine-game western trek with last night's late-inning rally. Cousins was the hero with his collision at the plate with Posey, but felt bad for injuring San Francisco's prized catcher.

"I knelt over him and tried to see if he was all right," Cousins said. "He's a great guy and a great player. I'm not trying to end anybody's season or anything like that. I am just trying to play hard. He didn't say much. You could tell he was in pain. When Bruce [Bochy] came out, he was pretty frustrated. I didn't want to stick around and make things any tenser. So I decided to get out of there."

Mike Stanton had a big night at the plate with four hits and four RBI, while Logan Morrison collected three hits and a pair of runs scored and Chris Coghlan contributed two hits for the Marlins, who got six innings of two-run ball out of starter Chris Volstad in the no-decision. Ryan Webb picked up the win with two scoreless innings of relief and Burke Badenhop earned his first save in the 12th.

Morrison has reached base safely in all 26 of his games this season. Marlins All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez left last night's game after the top of the ninth inning because of a right foot contusion and is day-to-day.

The Marlins, who own a solid 14-7 road mark, are also scheduled to visit Los Angeles and Arizona and will send Anibal Sanchez to the mound Thursday. Sanchez's only loss of the season came on April 10 at Houston and he's 3-1 with a 3.02 ERA in nine starts. The righty threw seven innings of three-run ball in a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay last Friday, but did not figure into the decision.

Sanchez has made two career starts against the Giants, going 1-0 with a sparkling 1.20 earned run average.

San Francisco won five of its seven matchups against the Marlins last season.