"Ricky Nolasco knew something wasn't normal last May when his ERA shot up to 9.07 and his record shrunk to 2-5. He felt like he wasn't pitching all that poorly. But bloopers were dropping in for hits, and ground balls were finding holes in the infield, and instead of outs he was being nickel-and-dimed to death for runs.

``It was a lot of things like that that happened,'' said Nolasco, who will start for the Marlins on Wednesday when they face the Mets in the second game of the season.

``Everybody has those periods of time where you're going to make good pitches and guys are going to get hits, and things are going to fall and all the breaks are going to go against you. You just have to look in the mirror, swallow it, and say `I'm going to take it, and hopefully it goes away fast.' ''

It didn't go away fast enough for Nolasco. When the Marlins could bear no more, they sent last season's Opening Day starter to the minors to get straightened out. But Nolasco, convinced that he was nothing more than a victim of bad luck, didn't change much of anything, other than deciding to be a little less cute with hitters and challenging them head on."