Montreal, Quebec (My Sportsbook) - Bartolo Colon aims for his 21st win of the season this evening, when the Montreal Expos take on the Florida Marlins in the middle contest of a three-game series at Olympic Stadium.

Colon, after going 10-4 with a 2.55 ERA for the Cleveland Indians, is 10-3 with a 3.13 earned run average since coming over in a late-June, blockbuster deal. He is just the second pitcher in baseball history, joining Hank Borowy (New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs) in 1945, to win 10 games in both leagues in the same season.

In his last trip to the slate, the hard-throwing righthander defeated Florida at Pro Player Stadium with five innings of nine-hit, five-run ball. He walked three and struck out two, while yielding a home run to Eric Owens. The win was his third in as many outings. However, during that time, he has surrendered a total of eight runs on 23 hits in 17 innings to watch his earned run average climb from 2.94 to 3.13.

Lifetime, Colon is 2-0 versus Florida. This will be the third start of the 29- year-old hurler's career against the Marlins.

Josh Beckett counters for the Fish. Beckett faced Colon and the Expos six days ago and did not factor into the decision after giving up a pair of runs on six hits over three innings. He walked one and fanned four.

The start was the righthander's first since August 22, when a blister forced him to leave his outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers and eventually landed him on the disabled list. Beckett last threw more than 61 pitches in a game on August 17 and is expected to be on a strict pitch count. This will be the 22- year-old hurler's 12th appearance -- 11th start -- of the season on the road, where he is 2-3 with a 3.29 earned run average.

For his career, Beckett is 1-1 versus Montreal. He has battled the Expos three times in 2002 and is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA.

In the opener of this set on Tuesday, Juan Encarnacion homered twice, knocked in five runs and was a double short of the cycle, leading the Marlins to a 9-6 victory. Mike Lowell smacked a three-run homer and a solo blast for Florida, which has won three of its last four.

Carl Pavano picked up the win after allowing three runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five. Braden Looper threw the last 1 2/3 frames to earn his 12th save.

Vladimir Guerrero homered for the Expos, who have dropped two of their last three. Guerrero is now one home run away from becoming the fourth player in baseball history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same year. The Yankees' Alfonso Soriano is also just one homer away from the mark. The only players to finish with 40 homers and 40 stolen bases are Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

Guerrero also notched his 200th hit of the season, two short of his career high (202 in 1998). Meanwhile, shortstop Orlando Cabrera tied a career best with four hits and stole his 20th consecutive base, equaling the team record set by Tim Raines in 1981.

Britt Reames, starting in place of Tomo Ohka, whose six-game suspension was upheld prior to the game, suffered the loss after throwing only three innings and permitting four runs on five hits.

The Expos are 45-31 on the season as the host, while the Marlins bring a 32-47 road mark into this contest, including three victories in four attempts on a current six-game trip.

Florida leads the season series by a 9-8 margin, having won five of the eight games in Montreal. Since the start of the 1999 campaign, it is 36-25 in this matchup.