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Marlins aim to seize share of first place vs. Mets

Jul 29, 2008 - 12:55 PM NY Mets (57-49) at Florida (56-50) 7:10 pm. EDT

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Few baseball pundits thought the National League East would be a three-horse race, but the Florida Marlins have turned it into just that.

The upstart Marlins aim to pull into a tie for first on Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game series with the New York Mets.

In Monday's opener, Cody Ross had a go-ahead RBI single in a five-run eighth as Florida posted a 7-3 victory. New York saw its lead over idle Philadelphia (56-49) in the NL East cut to one-half game.

The Phillies and the Mets have been battling for the division for the better part of the last two years, but the Marlins have joined the party this season. Florida is right in the thick of the pennant race, despite having the lowest payroll in baseball and a staff ERA (4.62) that ranks 25th in the majors.

Much of that is attributed to their offensive prowess. The Marlins lead the majors in home runs with 149. However, the Florida also swings and misses a lot as evidenced by its 896 strikeouts - an average of nearly 8.5 per game.

Oliver Perez (6-6, 4.15 ERA) will try and take advantage of the free-swinging Marlins and help the Mets to their 16th win in the last 21 games. New Mets' pitching coach Dan Warthen has tweaked Perez's deliver and the results have been astounding.

The lefthander is 1-1 with a 1.34 ERA in his last five starts. Perez allowed one run and six hits in 7 2/3 innings with a season-high 12 strikeouts in a 3-1 win over Philadelphia on Thursday.

Perez is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings spanning two starts vs. Florida this season.

The Marlins counter with Scott Olsen (6-5, 4.07), who is looking to bounce back from his first loss since June 17. Olsen was reached for six runs and seven hits in six innings of a 6-3 loss to Chicago on Thursday.