A historic homer by David Wright on Wednesday put the Mets in position to sweep their three-game series with the Marlins.
Miami starter Ricky Nolasco would love to prevent his club's fifth straight loss and move closer to his own franchise milestone in today's finale with New York.
Wright became the Mets' all-time RBI leader in Wednesday's 5-1 win, doing so with a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning that gave him 735 career runs batted in. That passed Darryl Strawberry's club mark of 733 that had stood since 1990.
"To have your name mentioned in the same breath with Straw, [Mike] Piazza and some of these guys is quite an honor," a humble Wright said.
Lucas Duda went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Mike Baxter added a pinch-hit, two-run double for the Mets, who have taken the first two meetings of this three-game set on the heels a 1-5 stretch. Josh Thole went 1-for-3 and has reached base safely in all 16 games he's played, the longest streak to begin a season by a Mets catcher.
R.A. Dickey held the Marlins to one run on three hits over seven innings to earn the win, while Mark Buehrle was again the hard-luck loser, having allowed two runs on five hits in his seven-inning start.
Omar Infante homered for Miami, while Jose Reyes went 1-for-4 after going hitless in four-at bats in his return to New York on Tuesday.
"It seems that every night there's one extra hit, one extra mistake or something [else] that we can't execute and come out with a win," said Miami's Giancarlo Stanton, whose club has lost four straight.
Nolasco will try to snap that slide today and is two wins shy of matching Dontrelle Willis' franchise record of 68 wins. Nolasco is 2-0 in three starts this season with a 3.93 earned run average.
The right-hander has failed to pitch six innings in consecutive outings after logging eight frames in a season-opening win over the Reds. He still beat the Cubs last Thursday, allowing three runs on eight hits and three walks over 5 1/3 innings.
The 29-year-old Nolasco is 5-7 with a 5.27 ERA in his career versus the Mets, who go for the sweep behind 25-year-old Jon Niese.
Niese has been solid over three starts, going 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA. He did not factor into the decision of last Friday's outing with the Giants, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings. The lefty also gave up his first home run of the season.
Niese is just 1-4 with a 5.67 ERA in six career starts against the Marlins.
The Mets and Marlins split 18 meetings last season.
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