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Nolasco takes the hill as Marlins look to get back on track

Aug 19, 2008 - 1:20 PM Florida (64-61) at San Francisco (52-71), 10:15 pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- Ricky Nolasco takes the mound Tuesday as the Florida Marlins square off against the lowly San Francisco Giants in the opener of a three-game set at AT&T Park.

Following a 3-7 skid, the Marlins are four games out of first place in the National League East, which is led by the New York Mets (68-57).

Meanwhile, the Giants are all but finished as they are 11 games behind the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks (64-60) and Los Angeles Dodgers (64-60) in the NL West.

Nolasco (11-7, 3.88 ERA) has developed into Florida's ace in his third year and can set a new career-high in wins. The righthander won 11 games in 2006 as a rookie, but saw his 2007 campaign was cut short due to a right elbow injury.

The 25-year-old has struck out 59 in his last 59 2/3 frames while posting a 3.62 mark and a 1.04 WHIP over his last nine starts. Nolasco has also held opponents to three runs or less in eight of his last 10 outings.

San Francisco will counter with Kevin Correia (2-6, 5.12), who has a 2.84 ERA this month, but has just one win since he pitched seven scoreless frames against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 10 - his last home victory. The righthander has posted a 2.84 ERA this month.

Correia tossed his second-longest outing of the season on Thursday, when he surrendered four runs - three earned - and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings against the Houston Astros.

The Marlins dropped two of three at San Francisco last season to fall to 8-17 all-time at AT&T Park -- their worst record at any NL park since 2000, when the Giants' stadium opened.