Miami @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 22, 2014 ) Miami 13, Colorado 5

The Miami Marlins have already surpassed their run total from a season ago and try to continue their offensive explosion when they visit the Colorado Rockies on Saturday in the middle contest of a three-game series. Miami (64-63) sits in the middle of the pack with 520 runs after a 13-5 victory Friday kept it four games behind San Francisco for the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Marlins scored a major league-low 513 runs in 2013 - more than 100 less than the next club.

Giancarlo Stanton continued his bid for the NL MVP award with three RBIs Friday and leads the league with 32 homers and 92 RBIs while his .299 average - 20 points behind Colorado's Justin Morneau - keeps him within shouting distance of a potential Triple Crown. The Rockies' Nolan Arenado is doing everything he can to help Colorado (50-77) avoid the first 100-loss season in team history after going 4-for-4 on Friday and is hitting .371 since being benched July 25 for not hustling. Miami's Tom Koehler won his last two starts and opposes Jordan Lyles, who has a 6.06 ERA in three turns after missing two months because of a broken left hand.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), ROOT (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Tom Koehler (9-9, 3.82 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Jordan Lyles (6-1, 4.01)

Koehler allowed two and six hits while striking out seven in a 10-3 victory over Arizona on Sunday. The 28-year-old New Yorker is 3-5 with a 5.05 ERA and .262 batting average against in 13 road starts compared to 6-4, 2.69, .216 at home. Koehler, who did not face Colorado in the season-opening series, is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two outings against Colorado - including a 3-1 victory at Coors Field on July 22, 2013 when he allowed one run and struck out seven in seven innings.

Lyles didn't allow a hit for three innings before yielding five runs and five hits over the next two frames against Cincinnati on Sunday, but was bailed out when the Rockies scored five in the ninth to prevail 10-9. "He started laboring a little bit around the fourth inning," Colorado manager Walt Weiss told the Denver Post about the 23-year-old South Carolinian. "And command got away from him some." Lyles earned a 6-5 victory at Miami on April 2 after permitting four runs in five frames.

WALK-OFFS

1. Marlins CF Marcell Ozuna on Friday homered for the third straight game - a grand slam as part of a five-RBI performance, which matches a career high.

2. Morneau on Friday hit his first home run against Miami and has gone deep against every team except his former club - Minnesota.

3. Marlins LF Christian Yelich is 21-for-41 during his 10-game hitting streak.

PREDICTION: Rockies 9, Marlins 8