Florida @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 27, 2010 ) Florida 4, San Francisco 6

A simple postgame celebration has cost the Florida Marlins the services of leadoff hitter Chris Coghlan. They can only hope it won't cost them several victories along the way.

The Marlins and San Francisco Giants meet Wednesday in the third game of the four-game series with Coghlan on the sidelines. The teams split the first two games of the series.

Coghlan suffered a freak injury Sunday after the Marlins’ 11-inning victory over Atlanta when he injured his left knee while slamming a celebratory shaving-cream pie to the face of hero Wes Helms.

Doctors discovered a meniscus tear during an MRI exam performed Monday and Coghlan went on the disabled list Tuesday. If the injury requires surgery to repair the damage, Coghlan will miss six to eight weeks.

Coghlan was batting .268 with five homers, 28 RBIs and 10 stolen bases for Florida. Coghlan hit .321 last season when he was the NL’s top rookie.

The injury comes at a bad time for the Marlins, who have won eight of 12 games since the All-Star break. Florida is on the cusp of making a run at a wild-card spot and cannot afford the loss of a key player.

Left-handed hitting Logan Morrison was recalled to replace Coghlan on the roster. Morrison, 22, played left field Tuesday night and went 1-for-4 in his major-league debut. Morrison was batting .307 with six homers and 45 RBIs for Triple-A New Orleans.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who normally bats third, hit in the leadoff spot Tuesday.

The Marlins will face Giants left-hander Jonathan Sanchez in Wednesday’s game. San Francisco is looking for its 17th win in 21 games.

Sanchez (7-6) has taken a no-decision in each of his last three starts. He struck out 10 in five innings against Arizona in his last start but also walked five. Sanchez gave up one run and four hits.

Sanchez has a 3.35 earned-run average and has struck out 119 hitters.

Right-hander Alex Sanabia, who moved into the rotation earlier this month, makes his fourth start for the Marlins. The 21-year-old Sanabia has pitched just 13 innings in his three starts despite allowing just one run.

Sanabia (1-1) got his lone win went he pitched 5 1/3 innings of four-hit shutout ball against the Washington Nationals on July 18. Overall, Sanabia has a 2.11 ERA in 21 1/3 major-league innings.

San Francisco catcher Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a run-scoring single off Marlins ace John Johnson in the third inning.

Posey went 1-for-4 and is now hitting .450 (36-for-80) during the streak. Hall of Famer Willie McCovey holds San Francisco’s rookie hitting streak record of 22 games, set in 1959.

Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla hit two homers on Tuesday and now has five homers over the last five games. Uggla is batting .409 (9-for-22) with eight RBIs during that span.

Johnson gave up three runs over seven innings on Tuesday, ending a streak of 13 consecutive starts in which he gave up two runs or fewer.