New York @ Florida preview
Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 28, 2010 ) NY Mets 3, Florida 10
The Florida Marlins seem to pack a little more power when they face the New York Mets, a trend they hope to continue when the teams continue their three-game series on Tuesday at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Marlins hit three home runs in Monday's 10-3 win to open the series. Florida has now run its season total to 14 homers against the Mets, against whom it is 7-4 this year.
Those 14 homers against the Mets are by far the Marlins' greatest total against any team. They've hit three or more homers four times this season - three of them against the Mets.
Monday's surge came at a desperate time for the Marlins, who had not hit a homer during a four-game losing streak. They were held to a total of three runs while being swept in a three-game series with the San Diego Padres over the weekend.
Cody Ross led the offensive outburst with three hits including a solo homer, his first since June 6 - against the Mets, of course. Ross extended his hitting streak to nine games, and he has a good shot to keep it going on Tuesday against Mets starter Hisanori Takahashi. Ross is 4-for-6 with a homer and four RBIs against Takahashi.
Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla also has fared well against Takahashi - he's 2-for-5 with two homers against him.
The Mets have lost consecutive games only once this month, and they hope Takahashi can bounce back from a bad start Thursday against the Detroit Tigers to help them avoid doing so for the second time in June.
Takahashi (6-3, 3.78 ERA) has been inconsistent since joining the rotation, putting together four stellar outings interspersed with three rough ones. One of the bad starts was against the Marlins, who dinged him for five runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, though New York rallied to win the game, 7-6.
The 35-year-old rookie left-hander also has made three relief appearances against Florida. He is 0-1 with a 7.45 ERA against the Marlins.
Marlins starter Nate Robertson (5-6, 4.89 ERA) hasn't been much better against his counterparts.
Robertson is 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA in four career starts against the Mets, and three of those starts have come this season.
After beating the Mets the first two times he faced them this year, Robertson didn't fare as well against them earlier this month. In a 6-1 Mets victory June 5 at Citi Field, he allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings and was tagged with the loss.
The 32-year-old left-hander Robertson has just one win in his last six starts. He didn't get out of the third inning in Thursday's 11-5 loss at the Baltimore Orioles, allowing five runs on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the year.
The Mets' stars have had mixed results against Robertson. Third baseman David Wright is 3-for-6 with two homers and four RBIs against him, but outfielder Jason Bay, who hit two homers Monday night, is 2-for-10 against him and leadoff man Jose Reyes is 1-for-6 against Robertson.