The 27-year-old right-hander is 6-1 over his past seven starts, a stretch that began when Rodriguez replaced Fredi Gonzalez on June 23.
"Since I've been here," Rodriguez said, "he's been outstanding."
Rodriguez can't help but expect more of the same from Nolasco on Saturday night, when the 11-game winner opposes Kevin Correia and the Padres at PETCO Park.
Twelve victories in 18 contests have pulled the Marlins within four games in the National League East of the second-place Phillies, whose acquisition of Roy Oswalt this week garnered the attention of Rodriguez's team.
"We've already talked about it, not just among the staff, but with the players," Rodriguez said. "Pretty much every player has to step up, to do what guys like Danny Uggla and Josh Johnson have been doing the whole season.
"Every player on the roster, not just the nine on the field, has to step up."
Correia has certainly stepped up this month, logging three quality starts in four outings. The 29-year-old righty will vie for his third consecutive win Saturday, after yielding a combined five earned runs over 12 innings in victories against the Diamondbacks and Pirates.
"I've just been waiting for good results," Correia said. "I knew I'd been putting the work in. I haven't been doing anything differently than I did last year, so I didn't feel like my stuff was any worse.
"I've been expecting this for a while."
Marlins: Winning the close ones
Seven of Florida's past 15 wins have been decided by one run. ... Uggla remains one home run shy of surpassing Mike Lowell for the franchise lead with 144. He is hitting .319 (29-for-91) with seven homers and 18 RBIs in 25 games this month. ... First baseman Gaby Sanchez paces NL rookies with 109 hits.
Padres: Torrealba scorching hot during streak
Catcher Yorvit Torrealba is batting .435 (20-for-46) over the course of a 13-game hitting streak, the longest by a Padres player this year. ... San Diego's 60-40 record through Thursday represented its second-best 100-game mark in club history. ... The Padres have a winning home record in six of their first seven seasons at PETCO Park.
Worth noting
San Diego owns a 69-67 advantage in its all-time series with Florida. ... Nolasco is 2-1 with a 1.77 ERA in three starts at PETCO. ... Correia has a 6.94 ERA in 12 appearances against the Marlins.
Sat, 7/31 8:35 PM ET
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
| HITTER | AVG | AB | HR | RBI |
|---|
Big flies support stingy Nolasco
Mike Stanton and Dan Uggla each hit home runs and Ricky Nolasco allowed three runs on five hits and struck out seven in a strong 8 1/3-inning performance that secured a series win for the Marlins vs. the Padres.
Marlins Beat
Photos
| Florida | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramirez, H, SS | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .282 |
| Morrison, LF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .217 |
| Sanchez, G, 1B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .292 |
| Uggla, 2B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .277 |
| Ross, C, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .272 |
| Stanton, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
| Helms, 3B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .252 |
| Davis, B, C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | .222 |
| Nolasco, P | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .150 |
| Nunez, L, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 33 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 15 | .256 |
| San Diego | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hairston, J, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .251 |
| Headley, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .271 |
| Gonzalez, A, 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 |
| Tejada, SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .267 |
| Hundley, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .249 |
| Venable, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .226 |
| Hairston, S, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .239 |
| Gwynn, CF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .217 |
| Correia, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .121 |
| a-Cabrera, E, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .197 |
| Stauffer, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Thatcher, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Webb, R, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| b-Stairs, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .194 |
| Totals | 32 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | .251 |
2B: Stanton (11, Correia).
HR: Stanton (9, 2nd inning off Correia, 1 on, 1 out), Uggla (23, 6th inning off Correia, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Ramirez, H; Sanchez, G; Uggla 4; Ross, C; Stanton 6; Nolasco.
RBI: Stanton 2 (30), Uggla (65), Sanchez, G 2 (49).
2-out RBI: Sanchez, G 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ramirez, H; Davis, B; Uggla 2.
S: Nolasco.
GIDP: Stanton.
Team RISP: 2-for-8.
Team LOB: 7.
BASERUNNING
SB: Uggla (3, 2nd base off Correia/Hundley).
FIELDING
DP: (Sanchez, G-Ramirez, H-Sanchez, G).
2B: Headley (21, Nolasco).
HR: Hairston, S (10, 6th inning off Nolasco, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Hairston, J; Headley 2; Gonzalez, A; Tejada; Hundley; Hairston, S 4.
RBI: Hairston, S (33), Gonzalez, A 2 (68).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Venable.
GIDP: Gonzalez, A.
Team RISP: 2-for-4.
Team LOB: 3.
FIELDING
E: Hairston, S 2 (4, fielding, missed catch).
DP: (Headley-Hairston, J-Gonzalez, A).
IBB: Helms (by Correia), Ramirez, H (by Stauffer).
Pitches-strikes: Nolasco 114-78, Nunez, L 8-6, Correia 96-57, Stauffer 40-22, Thatcher 1-1, Webb, R 8-5.
Groundouts-flyouts: Nolasco 7-9, Nunez, L 2-0, Correia 9-4, Stauffer 5-1, Thatcher 1-0, Webb, R 0-1.
Batters faced: Nolasco 30, Nunez, L 3, Correia 26, Stauffer 11, Thatcher 1, Webb, R 2.
Inherited runners-scored: Nunez, L 1-0, Thatcher 2-0, Webb, R 2-2.
Umpires: HP: Brian Knight. 1B: Gerry Davis. 2B: Sam Holbrook. 3B: Greg Gibson.
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, L to R.
T: 2:39.
Att: 42,072.
Compiled by MLB Advanced Media
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