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Marlins hoping to stay on winning track in clash with Angels

Jun 22, 2011 - 2:48 PM (Sports Network) - Mike Stanton's return to the lineup proved to be a positive sign for a Florida Marlins club desperate for a win.

The Marlins now can record their first series victory since late May with another win tonight over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the finale of a three-game set at Sun Life Stadium.

Stanton had missed three games with a right eye infection and went 3-for-4 with two RBI in Tuesday's 5-2 triumph, helping Marlins interim manager Jack McKeon record his first victory since the 2005 season -- his last as skipper before once again taking over the reins of the club prior to the start of this series.

Greg Dobbs finished with three hits and two runs scored for the Marlins, while Hanley Ramirez was back in the lineup after sitting out Monday's game to record two hits and a pair of runs scored. Gaby Sanchez homered for Florida, which put the brakes on a franchise record-tying 11-game losing streak.

The Marlins are still a woeful 2-19 in June and haven't won a series since sweeping three games at San Francisco from May 24-26.

"One win can make a whole heck of a lot of difference," said Dobbs. "When you think about the playoffs, one win can swing a series. In this sense, one win can get us going in the right direction."

Marlins starter Javier Vazquez allowed 10 hits, but did not permit a run or a walk through 5 1/3 innings in just the team's second win in June. Five Florida relievers chipped in to preserve the victory, with Leo Nunez notching his 20th save by getting the final out of the game.

Florida will also host Seattle for three games on this homestand and is scheduled to send Brain Sanches to the hill. Primarily a relief pitcher, Sanches gets the nod after the ballclub sent youngster Brad Hand down to Class A Jupiter on Monday to make room for reliever Jose Ceda.

Sanches is 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 23 games (1 start) this season and has never faced the Angels. The right-hander made the only start of his career on May 28 at Dodger Stadium, where he lasted three innings and allowed one run in a 6-1 Marlins victory.

The Angels entered last night's game having won two straight and six of nine games, but finished 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Torii Hunter collected four of Anaheim's 13 hits and also recorded an RBI and a run scored, while Hank Conger was the only other Anaheim player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4.

"We looked up there and I think we had no runs on 11 hits at one point," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said about his team's offense. "So although we weren't able to get many runs on the offensive side, I thought we swung better than what our run total showed,"

Hunter's 41 RBI in interleague play since 2009 are the most in the majors.

Halos starter Ervin Santana was charged with two runs and five hits over five innings to absorb the loss and fell to 3-8 on the season.

The Angels are four games behind Texas for the AL West lead and 5-3 so far on a 12-game road trip which concludes against the Dodgers this weekend. At 73-56, the Angels own the best road record in interleague action.

Los Angeles hopes to score four or more runs tonight, since it has won 11 straight when doing so.

Angels starter Joel Pineiro finally recorded the 100th win in his career his last time out and shoots for an encore performance tonight against the struggling Marlins. It took him seven tries to reach the century mark in wins, but finally got the job done after he allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings of Friday's 4-3 triumph over the New York Mets.

Pineiro, who had allowed four runs in each of his last five starts, ended a six-start winless drought in which he compiled an 0-3 mark with a 5.50 ERA. The Angels were 1-5 over that span.

The right-hander is 2-1 in five away assignments this season and 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in two career starts against the Marlins.

The Angels and Marlins are wrapping up their first series since Anaheim took two of three matchups at home back in 2005. The Angels did the same in 2003 as the visiting club.