TONIGHT IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pittsburgh (19-21) at Florida (12-29) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- MIAMI (Ticker) -- The Florida Marlins look to win consecutive games at home for the first time this season tonight when they continue a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The teams battled for over four hours in Thursday's series opener before Derrek Lee singled home the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning to give the Marlins a 4-3 victory. The win snapped an 11-game home losing streak for the Marlins, who are just 6-18 at Pro Player Stadium. Livan Hernandez (2-4, 3.91 ERA) is seeking to put together consecutive wins for Florida. The Cuban righthander stopped a three-game winless streak at Milwaukee on Sunday, allowing one run and 13 hits in 7 2/3 innings. Hernandez is 1-0 lifetime against Pittsburgh. Pete Schourek (2-3, 5.27) is also looking to win consecutive starts for Pittsburgh. Schourek snapped a four-game winless streak in his last start when he allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in a 9-4 victory over Montreal on Sunday. The Pirates are in the midst of their second four-game losing streak of the season. They also dropped four in a row from April 21-25. Milwaukee (18-21) at Montreal (12-26) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Montreal Expos shoot for their first three-game winning streak of the season tonight when they battle the Milwaukee Brewers. Montreal snapped a season-high seven-game losing streak on Tuesday against Philadelphia and then rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to win the next day. The Expos have won consecutive games on two other occasions this season. Vladimir Guerrero has been hot for the Expos, batting .500 (14-for-28) with four home runs and eight RBI in his last eight games. Coming off his worst start of the season, Carl Pavano (2-5, 7.32 ERA) gets the call for Montreal. Pavano had a two-game winning streak stopped on Saturday against Pittsburgh when he was torched for nine runs and 10 hits in just two innings. Milwaukee had won three of four games before being swept in a doubleheader at New York on Thursday. Despite that sweep, the Brewers have posted a 14-10 record away from home. A surprising Hideo Nomo (1-1, 2.19 ERA) starts for Milwaukee. The Japanese righthander has pitched well in two starts for the Brewers, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and 12 hits over 12 1/3 innings. Milwaukee took two of three games from the Expos in April at home. Philadelphia (21-18) at NY Mets (23-18) 7:10 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies hope to avoid their third straight loss tonight when they open a three-game series against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. After winning seven of eight games, the Phillies have dropped four of their last six. Philadelphia blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning in Wednesday's 10-9 loss at Montreal. Carlton Loewer (2-3, 5.03 ERA) takes the mound for Philadelphia. Loewer faced the Mets on Saturday and was staked to a six-run lead, but wound up surrendering six runs and eight hits in five innings of a no-decision. The righthander is 0-1 in three road starts. New York put a stop to a three-game losing streak on Thursday by sweeping a doubleheader from the Milwaukee Brewers as Robin Ventura became the first player in major league history to hit grand slams in each game of a doubleheader. Benny Agbayani went 5-for-7 with a pair of homers and is hitting .500 (15-for-30) since being recalled from the minors last week. A struggling Orel Hershiser (2-4, 6.62) is on the mound for the Mets. Hershiser has lost consecutive starts, including a defeat Sunday at Philadelphia in which he surrendered four runs and seven hits in six innings. Hershiser is 5-10 lifetime against the Phillies. The Mets took two of three games from Philadelphia last weekend. Chicago Cubs (21-17) at Atlanta (25-15) 7:40 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Bruce Chen makes his first start of the season for the Atlanta Braves tonight when he faces the Chicago Cubs as the teams continue a four-game series at Turner Field. Chen (NR) was expected to be Atlanta's fifth starter but did not make the trip north after an ineffective spring. He was 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA in five exhibition games, allowing 23 hits and 12 walks in 18 innings. Chen was 3-2 with a 2.30 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A Richmond, allowing 37 hits in 47 innings with 13 walks and 53 strikeouts. The lefthander leads the International League in strikeouts and is third in ERA. Lance Johnson's sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning scored Benito Santiago with the go-ahead run as the Cubs blew a five-run lead before defeating the Braves, 6-5, on Thursday. The Cubs are 4-0 on a seven-game road trip and have won six of their last seven games overall. Rookie Kyle Farnsworth (2-0, 4.94 ERA) is on the mound for Chicago. The righthander is unbeaten in four starts with two wins and a pair of no-decisions. He allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings and did not have a decision against Atlanta on Sunday. Atlanta had a four-game winning streak stopped with Thursday's loss. Arizona (23-19) at Colorado (16-21) 9:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- DENVER (Ticker) -- Red-hot Pedro Astacio seeks his fifth straight win tonight when he takes the mound for Colorado Rockies against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Astacio (4-3, 5.09 ERA) has pitched into the eighth innning in each start during his winning streak. His best outing during that span came at Arizona on Sunday when he threw a seven-hitter and allowed just an unearned run. Astacio is 1-1 in three starts at Coors Field this season and owns a 2-1 career mark against the Diamondbacks. Kurt Abbott went 3-for-4, falling a triple short of the cycle, with two RBI as the Rockies posted an 8-4 victory over Arizona on Thursday, snapping a four-game home losing streak. The Rockies are 6-9 at Coors Field. Colorado's Larry Walker brings a 20-game hitting streak into tonight's contest. His streak is the third-longest in Colorado history, trailing Vinny Castilla (23) and Dante Bichette (22). Brian Anderson (0-1, 9.58) makes his first start of the season for Arizona. Anderson won 12 games and made 32 starts for the Diamondbacks last season, but has appeared in eight games out of the bullpen this season. The lefthander's longest outing in 1999 came against San Francisco on April 16 when he worked 3 1/3 innings. Arizona has split four games on a seven-game road trip and is just 9-14 on the road. The Diamondbacks have the best home mark in the National League at 14-5. Cincinnati (19-18) at San Diego (16-23) 10:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Coming off one of their biggest offensive explosions this century, the Cincinnati Reds attempt to extend their season-high winning streak to six games tonight when they open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. The Reds banged out 28 hits, tying the club mark set against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 13, 1902, in a 24-12 pounding of Colorado on Thursday. Cincinnati also fell two runs shy of its franchise record of 26 against the Boston Braves on June 4, 1911. Sean Casey was 8-for-14 with 10 RBI during the three-game series in Colorado and is second in the league with a .399 batting average. Brett Tomko (1-1, 5.86 ERA) looks to baffle the Padres for the second time in less than a week for Cincinnati. Tomko was recalled from the minors prior to Sunday's start against the Padres when Steve Avery came up with a blister and came within one out of his first shutout in a 3-0 victory. The Padres have dropped four of their last five games and are coming off Thursday's 6-4 defeat to St. Louis. Tony Gwynn went hitless in five at-bats Thursday and is 25 hits shy of reaching the 3,000-hit plateau. Woody Williams (1-2, 3.55) is out to snap a four-game winless streak for San Diego. Williams is 0-2 over his last four starts and is coming off a loss against Cincinnati on Sunday. In that outing, he allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings. Cincinnati took two of three games from the Padres last weekend. The Padres won all six games from the Reds at Qualcomm Stadium in 1998. St Louis (21-18) at Los Angeles (21-19) 10:10 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers open their final series of the season tonight. These teams already have met six times, with the Cardinals winning four of those games. St. Louis won two of three games in Los Angeles in April and also took two of three from the Dodgers last weekend at home. Following a three-game losing streak, the Cardinals have won four of their last five contests and are coming off Thursday's 6-4 victory at San Diego. Mark McGwire has homered in consecutive games for the Cards and is 5-for-7 in that span. Juan Acevedo (2-1, 7.45 ERA) makes his second start of the season for St. Louis. After 15 appearances out of the bullpen, Acevedo made his first start on Sunday against the Dodgers and gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in two innings of a no-decision. Raul Mondesi hit his National League-leading 15th homer on Thursday, but the Dodgers suffered a 4-3 loss in 10 innings against Houston. Mondesi has six homers in his last nine games. Los Angeles has lost four of its last five contests. Ismael Valdes (4-1, 3.40) is on the mound for Los Angeles. Valdes has won three of his last four decisions and did not receive a decision against the Cardinals on Sunday when he allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings. He is 4-2 lifetime against St. Louis. Houston (25-14) at San Francisco (23-18) 10:35 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- The Houston Astros look to improve on the best record in the National League tonight when they begin a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants. Houston has won seven of its last nine games and has the best mark in the NL, a half-game better than the Atlanta Braves. The Astros have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Sean Bergman (2-1, 4.81 ERA) takes the mound for Houston. Bergman is 2-0 in his last five starts. The righthander surrendered four runs and eight hits over six innings and did not have a decision against the Giants on Sunday. The Giants have lost four of their last six games, but are coming off Wednesday's 8-3 victory over Arizona. Despite playing without injured Barry Bonds, the Giants are still atop the NL West by a half-game over Arizona. San Francisco is 15-14 without Bonds, who is expected to miss at least another seven weeks with a damaged triceps tendon and bone spurs in his left elbow. A struggling Mark Gardner (0-4, 10.88) is on the mound for San Francisco. Gardner has lost his last four starts and was torched for nine runs -- eight earned -- and six hits over 4 1/3 innings in a loss at Houston on Saturday. Gardner is 7-5 against Houston lifetime. Houston has taken four of six games from the Giants this season.  