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Marlins limp into finale with Mets

Jun 22, 2014 - 1:10 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Marlins have a lot of guys in the trainer's room each day, but at least they can still hit left-handed pitching.

Miami lost second baseman Rafael Furcal to a left leg injury in Saturday's 4-0 loss to the New York Mets, and the veteran will be heading to the disabled list rather than suiting up for Sunday afternoon's finale with the Mets that wraps up a four-game series at Marlins Park.

Furcal spent 2 1/2 months on the disabled list at the start of the season with leg issues.

Derek Dietrich will make the trip from Triple-A New Orleans to take the veteran's spot in the lineup. Dietrich was Miami's opening day starter at second base and played 41 games in the big leagues with a .242 batting average.

Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria is also iffy after missing Saturday's game with a sore arm.

Still, even with the injuries, the Marlins have managed an 11-5 record against left-handed starters this season, and they'll face another in the finale in the form of New York's Jonathon Niese.

Niese is 0-2 with a 3.25 earned run average in five career starts in Miami and he's gotten only 3.16 runs of support in games he's pitched in 2014. He hasn't won in five starts, though he's maintained a 2.62 earned run average in that stretch -- during which the Mets have scored eight runs.

"This is a tough place to hit here, like our park," New York manager Terry Collins said.

The Marlins go with rookie righty Anthony DeSclafani, who faces the Mets for the first time in his fourth career start.

He got a no-decision in outing No. 3, during which he allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings of Miami's 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Jacob deGrom worked seven innings for his first career win and Lucas Duda hit a two-run home run as the Mets grabbed a 4-0 victory.

DeGrom (1-4) gave up five hits and three walks while striking out seven, and David Wright was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Mets.

Tom Koehler (5-6) was touched for two runs on four hits with three walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings for the Marlins.

Giancarlo Stanton and Ed Lucas each had two hits in the loss.