A look at the best-of-five National League division series
between the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants:<
^Schedule:@ (All times Eastern) Game 1, Tuesday, at San Francisco
(4:06 p.m., ESPN); Game 2, Wednesday, at San Francisco (4:06 p.m.,
ESPN); Game 3, Friday, at Florida (4:06 p.m., ESPN2); x-Game 4,
Saturday, at Florida (TBA); x-Game 5, Sunday, at San Francisco
(TBA).<
x-if necessary.
=
^Season Series:@ San Francisco won 5-1.<
=
^Projected Lineups=
^Marlins:@ CF Juan Pierre (.305, 1 HR, 41 RBIs, major league-leading
65 steals, 204 hits), 2B Luis Castillo (.314, 6, 39, 21 steals), C
Ivan Rodriguez (.297, 16, 85), 1B Derrek Lee (.271, 31, 92, 21
steals, 131 Ks), 3B Miguel Cabrera (.268, 12, 62), RF Juan
Encarnacion (.270, 19, 94, 19 steals), LF Jeff Conine (.282, 20, 95
for Baltimore and Florida), SS Alex Gonzalez (.256, 6, 18).<
^Giants:@ 2B Ray Durham (.285, 8, 33), 1B J.T. Snow (.273, 8, 51),
SS Rich Aurilia (.277, 13, 58), LF Barry Bonds (.341, 45, 90, major
league-leading .749 slugging percentage and .529 on-base
percentage), 3B Edgardo Alfonzo (.259, 13, 81), C Benito Santiago
(.279, 11, 56), CF Marquis Grissom (.300, 20, 79), RF Jose Cruz Jr.
(250, 20, 68, 102 BBs).<
=
^Projected Rotations=
^Marlins:@ RH Josh Beckett (9-8, 3.04 ERA, 152 Ks in 142 IP), RH
Brad Penny (14-10, 4.13), LH Mark Redman (14-9, 3.59), LH Dontrelle
Willis (14-6, 3.30).<
^Giants:@ RH Jason Schmidt (17-5, 2.34, 208 Ks), RH Sidney Ponson
(17-12, 3.75 for Baltimore and San Francisco), LH Kirk Rueter
(10-5, 4.53), RH Jerome Williams (7-5, 3.30).<
=
^Relievers=
^Marlins:@ RH Ugueth Urbina (3-4, 2.81, 32/38 saves for Texas and
Florida), RH Braden Looper (6-4, 3.68, 28/34 saves), RH Chad Fox
(3-3, 3.12, 3 for Boston and Florida), RH Carl Pavano (12-13,
4.30), LH Michael Tejera (3-4, 4.67, 2), RH Rick Helling (8-8,
5.17).<
^Giants:@ RH Tim Worrell (4-4, 2.87, 38/45), RH Jim Brower (8-5,
3.96, 2), RH Joe Nathan (12-4, 2.96), RH Felix Rodriguez (8-2,
3.10, 2), RH Matt Herges (1-0, 2.31), LH Jason Christiansen (0-0,
5.19), LH Scott Eyre (2-1, 3.32, 1).<
=
^Matchups=
San Francisco swept three games at Florida in May right before
Marlins manager Jeff Torborg was fired and replaced by Jack McKeon
and won two of three at Pacific Bell Park in August. ... The
Marlins are back in the playoffs for the first time since winning
the World Series in 1997. They swept San Francisco in the first
round that year. Florida was the wild-card winner that season, same
as this year when they won a stretch duel with Philadelphia. ...
Florida is 14-34 at San Francisco, where the first two games will
be played. ... Of San Francisco's starters, the Marlins have hit
the best against Rueter. Castillo is 8-for-21 (.381) with three
triples and Conine is 6-for-15 (.400). ... Conine is 4-for-8
against Schmidt with two homers, two strikeouts and two walks. ...
Alfonzo has six hits in 22 at-bats against Penny. ... Rodriguez is
7-for-22 (.318) against Ponson. They're both former AL guys. ...
Beckett was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA vs. the Giants this year after
going 2-0 against them in 2002. ... Pavano, who beat the Giants in
the final game of the regular-season series, will be in the bullpen
for the playoffs.
=
^Big Picture=
^Marlins:@ The Marlins started 19-29, but were revived by McKeon.
Since May 23 they have the best record in the major leagues.
They're only the ninth team to come from at least 10 games below
.500 and reach the postseason. ... The playoffs will be the first
for the 72-year-old McKeon in his 13-year managerial career.
McKeon, who took over on May 11, becomes the oldest big league
manager to reach the postseason. It's the 12th time a team has made
the postseason after changing managers in midseason. ... Willis
sparked the Marlins' turnaround when he was recalled from Double-A
on May 9, and his former Carolina Mudcats teammate, Cabrera, made
nearly as big an impact. Willis became an All-Star and a nationwide
sensation with his high leg kick and hat tilted to the side. He
slumped a bit in the second half, losing four straight decisions,
but then won two big games in the stretch. ... Among the probable
starters for Game 1, the only Marlins with postseason experience
are Rodriguez and Conine. Rodriguez's Texas Rangers went 1-9 in
three series against the New York Yankees, and Conine played for
the Marlins in 1997.
^Giants:@ The Giants have been remarkable under first-year manager
Felipe Alou, who predicted from the day he took the job replacing
Dusty Baker that this team had the talent to play deep into October
again this year. The Giants won the NL West despite countless
injuries that forced them to be creative with their rotation and
rely on several young arms to win big games. Closer Robb Nen has
been on the disabled list since opening day because of a bad right
shoulder. ... Bonds dealt with the death of his father, while
Schmidt lost his mother. ... San Francisco came within two innings
of winning the World Series last year. The Giants blew a big lead
in Game 6 against Anaheim and lost to the Angels the next day. The
Giants have not won a World Series since moving to San Francisco in
1958. ... Besides Baker, the Giants lost plenty of other big names
in the offseason. Jeff Kent, Kenny Lofton and David Bell left the
lineup and Russ Ortiz and Livan Hernandez were gone from the
rotation.
=
^Watch For=
The Barry factor. Bonds put up monstrous postseason numbers
last year, hitting eight homers and reaching base in 21 of 30 plate
appearances in the World Series. The Giants were 4-0 in games that
Bonds played against Florida this season, and going into these
playoffs McKeon sounded as if he no intention to pitching to the
big guy.
Senior skippers. McKeon matches up against the 68-year-old
Alou, who also will manage in his first playoff series. Alou missed
out on a chance in 1994 when the strike cut short the season while
his Montreal Expos had the best record in the majors.
Running wild. The Marlins take off at a moment's notice they
stole 150 bases this season, more swipes than any other team even
attempted.
Looming Lowell. Mike Lowell, the Marlins' All-Star third
baseman, is healthy again after missing four weeks with broken left
hand. He hit 32 homers this season and returned to the lineup for
the final game of the regular season. McKeon says Lowell will begin
the playoffs on the bench.
Home boys. The Marlins would love to split the first two
games, because lately they've played especially well at home. After
trailing Philadelphia in the wild-card standings Sept. 19, the
Marlins won five in a row in Florida to clinch the playoff berth,
which made it 16 wins in their past 18 home games.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)