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Reeling Mets turn to Pedro in Miami

The bottom of the National League East sure is having an impact on the division race. The Florida Marlins will again try to play the role of spoiler tonight, when they resume a four-game series with the New York Mets at Dolphin Stadium.

The Mets were swept in three games by the second-place Philadelphia Phillies last weekend, as their lead atop the division shrunk to 3 1/2 games.

New York then welcomed the Washington Nationals to town, the NL East's fourth- place team, and dropped two of three. Yesterday, the Mets began their current set with the last-place Marlins with an 8-7 extra-inning setback.

New York rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth inning to take a 7-4 run edge, but with closer Billy Wagner unavailable due to back spasms, the rest of the Mets bullpen allowed three runs in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings. Dan Uggla then ripped an RBI double in the bottom of the 10th off of Jorge Sosa (9-8) to give Florida the win.

Uggla finished 4-for-6 and Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer for Florida, which snapped a four-game skid in a big way.

Taylor Tankersley (6-1) picked up the win after shutting down the Mets in the top of the 10th.

David Wright finished with three hits and also knocked in a run, while Moises Alou extended his hitting streak to a career-high 24 games with a two-run double in the first inning for the Mets, whose lead in the division standings was cut to 1 1/2 games after Philadelphia's victory over Washington last night. New York's magic number to clinch the NL East remains nine.

Pedro Martinez continues what has thus far been a very successful comeback from offseason rotator cuff surgery tonight for the Mets. Martinez won his first two starts of the season on September 3rd and 9th before getting a no decision Saturday versus the Phillies. The right-hander allowed only one run and seven hits over six innings while striking out nine.

Martinez's earned run average through three starts is a solid 1.69 ERA.

The Dominican hurler is 5-6 in 20 lifetime games (16 starts) against Florida, despite a 2.74 ERA in that span. It will be his first start against the Marlins since September 21, 2006.

Scott Olsen is going through a rough stretch and will try to reverse that trend tonight for Florida. Olsen is 0-5 over his last seven starts while tossing an 8.55 ERA over that span.

He has dropped his last two starts and was miserable on the hill Sunday, as Olsen allowed six runs on eight hits over only two innings of work in Colorado. The left-hander dipped to 9-14 with the loss, while watching his season ERA lift to 6.06.

Olsen is 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA in seven career starts against New York and got a no decision against the club on August 11 after six innings of three-run ball.

The Mets are 7-5 against the Marlins this season and had won seven in a row at Florida prior to Thursday's loss. That included victories in all five previous meetings at Dolphin Stadium this season.

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