Pittsburgh @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 30, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 9, Florida 11

The Florida Marlins need three more wins to finish above .500 for the third consecutive season as they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second game of a four-game set on Friday.

The Marlins (78-81) struck for four runs in the first inning on Thursday against Pittsburgh but then had to hang on for an 11-9 win after opening up a seven-run lead early. The Fish banged out 13 hits and 20-year-old rookie Mike Stanton was 3-for-5 with his 22nd home run and five runs batted in to help Florida snap a four-game losing streak.

Florida’s offensive outburst came after the club averaged just two runs per game over a 1-6 road trip, played without sparkplug Hanley Ramirez. The All-Star shortstop has been shut down for the season as he deals with two sore elbows.

The Pirates are just trying to avoid a series sweep which would give them the worst road record in MLB history. They sit at 16-62 as visitors heading into Friday’s game.

Pedro Alverez is doing his best to help Pittsburgh avoid that infamous record as he works on a 10-game hit streak that has seen him drive in 20 runs over that span. The second-overall pick in the 2008 draft hit his 15th homer of the year and drove in five runs in Thursday’s game. He has 63 RBIs in 93 big-league games this year.

The Pirates (56-103) send Daniel McCutchen (2-5, 6.36 ERA) to the mound in place of Paul Maholm, who was scratched from his scheduled start with a left knee problem. McCutchen normally works out of the bullpen and should be on a tight pitch count after allowing two runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings against the Houston Astros last Friday. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander hasn’t thrown a scoreless relief appearance in his last four trips to the hill, giving up seven runs over his last six innings.

The Marlins answer with Adalberto Mendez (1-2, 4.19 ERA), who makes his fifth start of the season. Mendez is coming off a terrible start in which he was hammered for four homers and six earned runs over two innings. He had given up only three runs over his first three starts before that but has walked 11 batters in the majors after issuing only 29 free passes to first in 28 appearances with Triple-A New Orleans before getting called up.

The Marlins have won four out of five games against the Pirates this season.