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Royals seek fifth straight win in opener vs. Marlins

May 16, 2008 - 1:54 PM Kansas City (19-21) at Florida (23-17) 7:10 pm EDT

MIAMI (Ticker) - The Kansas City Royals gun for their fifth consecutive win Friday when they visit the Florida Marlins in the opener of a three-game interleague series.

Brett Tomko (1-4, 5.67 ERA) gets the ball for the Royals, who are fresh off a three-game series sweep over the lowly Detroit Tigers. The righthander was tagged for six runs and nine hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings in a 6-5 loss to Baltimore last Saturday.

Tomko's return to the American League hasn't gone as planned but that all could change in this one. He owns an impressive 7-2 record with a 3.18 ERA through 10 career against the Marlins.

Andrew Miller (3-2, 6.52) gets the call for Florida, which has lost its last three outings. Miller was outstanding last time out, tossing seven scoreless innings en route to an 11-0 win at Washington last Saturday.

The 22-year-old has won three of his last four outings.

Miller didn't even make it out of the first inning against the Royals in his lone start, giving up five runs on five hits in just 2/3 frames of a 5-0 loss on August 29, 2007 as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

The 6-6 lefthander owns a 3-1 record with a 2.70 ERA through four interleague starts with Detroit, which sent Miller to Florida as one of the key players in a blockbuster trade for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in the offseason.