Florida (44-48) at Chicago (37-56)

The Florida Marlins remain in last place, but they are currently the hottest team in the NL.
With Ricky Nolasco(notes) on the mound, the Marlins have a good chance to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games Friday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

After a horrendous 5-23 June, Florida (44-48) has won eight of 11 in July and its last six in a row - its longest streak since a seven-game run April 12-19, 2009.
The Marlins rallied from a 2-0 deficit Thursday, taking advantage of six Chicago walks while scoring all of their runs in the ninth inning of a 6-3 win. Greg Dobbs(notes) cleared the bases with a pinch-hit double to help Florida snap a six-game skid against the Cubs and improve to 12-8 under 80-year-old manager Jack McKeon.
Despite being 13 1/2 games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia, the Marlins remain positive.
“We’re going to fight it out - we have to,” Dobbs said. “We can’t give up. We’re building off things right now. We just have to keep riding off the momentum, keep executing.”
The Marlins appear in good shape to continue their success as they turn to Nolasco (6-5, 3.70 ERA), who has allowed two runs in 25 innings over his last three starts - going the distance twice. The right-hander struck out eight in completing a 6-1 win over Houston on Saturday.
“The mindset I have is to go as deep as I can, for as long as I can, to keep my team in the game,” Nolasco said.
Nolasco, a fourth-round draft pick of the Cubs in 2001, is 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA in five starts versus Chicago. He allowed five runs in six innings and did not factor in the decision of Florida’s 7-5 loss to the Cubs on May 18.
Ryan Dempster(notes) (6-6, 5.01) will oppose Nolasco again after allowing five runs in five innings in that contest. Despite that performance, the ex-Marlin is 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in five starts against his former team.
Dempster, 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA in his last six starts, got into a dugout shouting match with manager Mike Quade when he was pulled after allowing three runs in five innings of a 6-3 win at Pittsburgh on Saturday in his first start in 10 days since dealing with back and stomach issues.
“I think anyone who’s competitive, you always want to be out there,” said Dempster, who cleared the air with Quade this week. “But at the end of the day, getting W’s is all that matters.”
The right-hander will try to help the Cubs (37-56) avoid a third consecutive loss after Carlos Marmol(notes) walked four of the five batters he faced en route to blowing his seventh save in 26 chances Thursday.
Quade, however, does not seem ready to remove Marmol from the closer role.
“Not right now,” he said. “You take something like this and try to figure out how to fix it.”
Geovany Soto(notes) had four hits as Chicago dropped to 3-8 in July. Soto has hit .400 (12 for 30) his last eight games, but is 1 for 6 versus Nolasco.
Florida’s Emilio Bonifacio(notes) is batting .420 during a 13-game hitting streak, but is 0 for 10 with three strikeouts against Dempster.
AP