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Marlins aim to continue mastery of Cubs

The Chicago Cubs will try to halt an eight-game losing streak to the Florida Marlins tonight when the two clubs play the middle portion of their three-game series at Dolphin Stadium.

Chicago hasn't bested the Marlins since April 25 of last year. The Cubs concluded their season series with Florida last year by dropping four straight, and then were swept in three games by the Marlins on May 28-30 of this season in Chicago.

The Cubs are trying to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2003, when their postseason ended with a loss to Florida in the NLCS. The Marlins defeated the Cubs in seven games in that series, a set that included the well- documented Steve Bartman foul-ball incident in Game 6.

The Marlins then went on to beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Florida continued its dominance with a 4-2 victory over the National League Central-leading Cubs on Tuesday. Dontrelle Willis (10-15) pitched eight solid frames to lead the Marlins, surrendering two hits and two runs with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Jeremy Hermida and Miguel Olivo each doubled twice, with Hermida driving home a pair of runs for the Marlins, who halted a three-game losing streak.

Ted Lilly (15-8) couldn't register his career-best 16th victory after giving up four runs on eight hits through just five innings. Craig Monroe hit a two- run homer for the Cubs, who saw their four-game winning streak come to an end and also had their lead over second-place Milwaukee shrink to two games in the standings.

Milwaukee defeated St. Louis yesterday, keeping Chicago's magic number at four.

Jason Marquis will try to both personally rebound from his last start and right the ship for the Cubs tonight. Marquis was blitzed for seven runs and eight hits in just 2 2/3 innings of work on Friday against the Pirates. However, he got a no-decision in his club's 13-8 victory. It was a far cry from his previous outing, when Marquis held the Cardinals to just one run over 6 1/3 frames.

The right-hander is 12-8 with a 4.35 ERA and will face the Marlins for the second time this season. He lost to the club on May 29 after yielding four runs over five innings, and is 4-4 with a 6.85 ERA in 16 games (nine starts) lifetime against them.

Daniel Barone will face the Cubs for the first time in his career when he starts for the Marlins tonight. The 24-year-old has made 15 appearances this season, five of those starts, and is 1-3 with a 5.30 ERA. Barone's last start came on September 19 against Atlanta and he took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings.

He then faced the Mets in relief on Sunday and threw two-thirds of an inning without allowing a hit.

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