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Marlins try to break the brooms out on Mets

May 7, 2014 - 12:35 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - One of the bigger surprises in baseball this season has been the play of the Miami Marlins. They'll try to stay hot on Wednesday when they go after a fourth straight win and a three-game sweep of the New York Mets at Marlins Park.

Miami continued to impress on Tuesday, as Henderson Alvarez tossed his second shutout of the season in the Marlins' 3-0 triumph. Casey McGehee drove in two runs and Giancarlo Stanton knocked in one for Miami, which has now won eight of its last 10.

Alvarez (2-2) needed 111 pitches to complete his outing, throwing 79 for strikes. He fanned seven, surrendered only six hits and didn't walk a batter en route to his fourth career shutout.

"He's still a young guy, still learning how to pitch and understanding how to pitch," Miami manager Mike Redmond said of Alvarez. "But when you see nights like this, you realize this guy has a chance to be really, really good. It just comes down to consistency."

Miami, a major league-best 16-5 at home, has also won 10 of its last 11 in its ballpark.

"We're playing with a lot of confidence right now," Redmond said. "Hopefully we can finish it off Wednesday and go on the road and start winning some games out of our suitcase."

Bartolo Colon (2-5) allowed three runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over seven full frames in defeat for the Mets, who have dropped five of their last six.

Trying to complete the sweep for the Marlins on Wednesday will be righty Tom Koehler, who is 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA and is coming off a terrific outing on Friday. Koehler scattered three hits over seven scoreless innings in that one and struck out four to win for the second time in three decisions.

"Winning is always fun," Koehler said. "To be able to win these games speaks volumes about the high character of the guys in the clubhouse."

Koehler lost to the Mets back on April 27 and is 1-2 with a 3.03 ERA in eight games (5 starts) against them.

The Mets, meanwhile, will turn to righty Zack Wheeler, who has been disappointing in six starts this season, going 1-3 with a 5.13 ERA. Wheeler absorbed the loss his last time out on Friday in Colorado, as the Rockies reached him for seven runs (6 earned) in just four innings.

Wheeler, though, had his best outing of the season two starts ago against the Marlins, as he gave up just a run and struck out 10 in six innings of a no- decision.

Miami lost two of three to New York late last month at Citi Field.