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Marlins look to complete sweep vs. Nationals

Apr 8, 2009 - 3:34 AM By Santosh Venkataraman Stats Senior Writer

Washington (0-2) at Florida (2-0) 12:10 p.m. EDT

MIAMI (AP) -- Led by Jorge Cantu and Emilio Bonifacio, the Florida Marlins have feasted on Washington Nationals pitching so far.

The Marlins will try to complete a three-game sweep of this season-opening series when they go for a seventh straight home victory against the Nationals on Wednesday.

Florida (2-0) has totaled 20 runs and 21 hits in cruising to two easy victories over Washington (0-2) to start the season. Cantu has homered in both games, and is 4-for-7 with five RBIs while Bonifacio is 6-for-10 with four runs scored and four RBIs.

While Cantu's power isn't a big surprise considering he hit a career-high 29 homers last season, Bonifacio has emerged as a key figure while batting leadoff for Florida. The Nationals are well aware of the third baseman's ability since they traded Bonifacio to the Marlins along with two minor leaguers for starter Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham on Nov. 11.

"The most important thing is that our pitching, and so far it's been pretty decent, our starting pitching," Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "The offense is going to go here and there, but I think we got some speed in the lineup where you got to run into a tough pitcher but you should be able to manufacture runs with our speed."

The Nationals have seen their starters get chased after three innings in each game. John Lannan allowed six runs in Monday's 12-6 loss before Olsen fared worse Tuesday against his former team, yielding eight runs in an 8-3 defeat.

Washington trailed 6-0 after three innings on Monday and 8-0 after three on Tuesday.

"It's the second game of the year," Washington left fielder Adam Dunn said. "I'm not conceding the season just yet. We put ourselves in an early hole on the scoreboard. That makes it tough to come back."

Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman is 5-for-9 so far, including two infield hits and a double in Tuesday's loss.

After getting to Washington's first two starters, Florida will face Daniel Cabrera, who will make his National League debut Wednesday. Cabrera pitched the last five seasons for Baltimore, going 8-10 with a 5.25 ERA last season.

He signed a one-year, $2.6 million contract with Washington in the offseason.

The 6-foot-9 right-hander is known as a power pitcher who has also struggled with his control. He faced Florida only once in his career, allowing six runs in 5 2-3 innings in a 6-2 loss for the Orioles on June 20, 2006.

Cantu has a single in 10 career at-bats versus Cabrera.

The Marlins will start Chris Volstad, who pitched very well last season as a rookie after his contract was purchased from Double-A Carolina on July 6.

The 6-foot-8 right-hander went 6-4 with a 2.88 ERA in 15 appearances - 14 starts - for Florida in 2008. He did not pitch as well at home, going 2-3 with a 3.61 ERA in eight starts.

This will be Volstad's first appearance against Washington.