Montreal, Quebec (My Sportsbook) - The Montreal Expos open their final homestand of the year this evening, when they welcome the Florida Marlins to town for the opener of a three-game series at Olympic Stadium.

Montreal has won eight of its last nine to move into second place in the NL East -- one game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies. Sunday, it posted a 5-1 victory at Shea Stadium in New York to finish a six-game road trip with five wins.

Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run homer -- his 38th of the season -- and Zach Day earned the victory in relief, as the Expos bounced back from a 6-3 defeat on Saturday. Guerrero also stole his 40th base of the season in the winning effort.

Guerrero is racing the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano to become the fourth player in baseball history with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in one year. Soriano is just one homer away from the mark. The only players to accomplish the feat are Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.

Sun-Woo Kim started for the Expos, but was forced to leave after 4 1/3 innings with cramps in his right leg. Kim did not surrender a run and was charged with five hits. Day took over for the young righthander and worked the remaining 4 2/3 innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits.

The Expos once again played without shortstop Orlando Cabrera and second baseman Jose Vidro. Cabrera was late to the park Saturday and was benched by manager Frank Robinson, while Vidro left the team Friday to attend to personal business.

Tomo Ohka gets the call this evening for the hosts. Ohka faced the Marlins at Pro Player Stadium six days ago and did not factor into the decision, despite tossing eight scoreless innings of six-hit ball. He walked one and struck out seven.

In his previous outing, the righthander permitted five runs on six hits over 6 1/3 frames in a loss to the Mets. The defeat was his second in a row following a personal five-game winning streak. This will be the 26-year-old hurler's 18th appearance of the season at home, where he is 8-3 with a 3.07 earned run average and a pair of complete games.

For his career, Ohka is 0-2 versus Florida. He has faced the Marlins twice in 2002 and is 0-1 with a 5.00 ERA.

Carl Pavano counters for the Fish. Pavano battled Ohka and the Expos in his last trip to the rubber and was not involved in the decision after giving up a pair of runs -- one earned -- on six hits in six frames. He fanned five and did not issue a free pass.

The righthander, in his previous start, defeated the Atlanta Braves at Olympic Stadium with six innings of three-hit, three-run ball. The win was his second in a row. He has pitched well of late, surrendering a total of eight runs -- seven earned -- in his last four starts to lower his earned run average from 5.68 to 5.09.

Pavano will be facing the Expos, who dealt him to the Marlins in mid-July as part of the Cliff Floyd trade, for the sixth time this season. All but one of those appearances have come in relief and he is yet to receive a decision.

Florida had a two-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, dropping a 1-0 affair at Turner Field against the Braves. Juan Encarnacion homered for the Marlins, who have dropped four of their last six.

Julian Tavarez suffered the loss, giving up four runs -- two earned -- on three hits in just one-third of an inning. A.J. Burnett, making his first start since August 18, scattered two hits in five innings of work.

These teams have split eight meetings this season, with the Marlins owning a slim 4-3 advantage in Montreal. Since the start of the 1999 campaign, Florida is 35-25 in this matchup.

The Expos are 45-30 on the year as the host, while the Marlins bring a 31-47 road mark into this contest, including a 2-1 record on a current six-game trip.