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Marlins look to remain unbeaten as they host Mets

Apr 9, 2009 - 9:51 PM NY Mets (2-1) at Florida (3-0) 7:10 pm EDT

MIAMI (AP) -- The Florida Marlins eliminated the New York Mets from the playoff race on the final day of the last two seasons, despite having fallen out of contention long before that.

If the Marlins keep swinging the bats like they did in their opening series of 2009, they might be playing for their own postseason fate in September.

The Marlins look to continue their strong start at the plate Friday night when they host the NL East rival Mets in the opener of a three-game series at Dolphin Stadium.

Florida (3-0) opened the season with a three-game sweep of Washington, totaling 26 runs and batting .313 during its first 3-0 start since 1997 - when the franchise won its first World Series.

The Marlins, who have never been 4-0, got a tiebreaking three-run double from Dan Uggla during a four-run fifth inning as they capped the sweep with a 6-4 victory Wednesday.

"Everyone in this division, this league knows the kind of hitters that we have in this clubhouse," said Uggla, who hit a career-high 32 home runs last season to help the Marlins finish third in the majors with 208. "Are we going to score 8-10 runs a game? Odds are, no. ... But we've got guys up and down the lineup that can swing the bats."

Uggla has driven in five runs and shortstop Hanley Ramirez has knocked in six. They're benefiting from the early success of leadoff hitter Emilio Bonifacio, who's 8-for-14 with four stolen bases and six runs.

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez knows his team's production will drop off at some point, but he's planning on enjoying it while it lasts.

"It's a tough pace to continue," Gonzalez said. "Good pitching will beat good hitting anytime and we're going to run into some tough pitchers who'll shut the offense down. But we'll keep riding it for right now."

The Mets (2-1) hope to cool off the Marlins by sending John Maine to the mound. The right-hander will make his first start since surgery to remove a bone spur from his throwing shoulder ended his 2008 season in late August.

Maine, 10-8 with a 4.18 ERA in 25 starts last season, is 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in six starts versus Florida.

The surgery made Maine unavailable for the Mets' season-ending series against the Marlins in September. New York, which managed five runs in the three-game set, was knocked out of contention for the wild-card playoff berth with a 4-2 loss Sept. 28, the second consecutive season the Mets were eliminated by the Marlins at Shea Stadium in their finale.

The stakes aren't nearly as high this time around, but the Mets hope to bounce back from an ugly loss in their last outing. Oliver Perez gave up eight runs in 4 1-3 innings of an 8-6 defeat at Cincinnati on Thursday, preventing New York from completing a three-game sweep.

The Mets, 10-8 versus the Marlins last year, will try to rebound against Florida's Anibal Sanchez. The right-hander went 2-5 with a 5.57 ERA in 10 starts in 2008 after missing the first four months of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery.

Sanchez is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA in three starts against New York.