ATLANTA -- With a victory in what will be his final start of the season, Ricky Nolasco would end up with two fewer wins than he had in 2008 when he posted a record of 15-8.

But Nolasco, who wraps up his season Wednesday, will be the first to admit his season has been nothing exceptional.

``Average,'' Nolasco said Tuesday. ``I'm definitely not happy about it. But the way I turned it around, that's what I can be happy about.''

Nolasco owned a record of 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA when the Marlins sent him to Triple A New Orleans in June.

Since returning, he has gone 10-4 with a 3.69 ERA. He gave up 45 earned runs in the nine starts before his demotion compared with only 60 earned runs in the 21 starts since his recall.

But even if Nolasco hurls a complete-game shutout against the Braves in his finale, he still will end up with an ERA above 5.00. Of the 52 National League pitchers with at least 140 innings under their belt this season, Nolasco's 5.28 ERA is only lower than Livan Hernandez's 5.48.

``I think you can ask any person, any manager, any coach in the league -- everybody knows that my ERA doesn't represent the pitcher that I am,'' Nolasco said. ``The way my season started off pretty much ruined my ERA. I know that that's not the type of ERA that belongs next to my name.''

Nolasco also is disappointed he will finish with fewer than 200 innings after totaling 212 1/3 in '08.

DYNAMIC BULLPEN DUO

Brian Sanches and Kiko Calero have a chance to become the first pair of Marlins relievers with at least 50 appearances to finish with sub-2.00 ERAs in the same season. season, but it took a serious hit Tuesday night after Sanches' disastrous appearance.

Heading into Tuesday, Sanches had a 1.99 ERA, and Calero was at 1.86. But after Sanches gave up a game-tying, three-run homer to Matt Diaz on Tuesday night, his ERA jumped to 2.45.

Sanches is pleased with his performance this season. But he's even happier that he proved he could stick in the majors for a full season. He failed to do that when he was with the Phillies and Nationals.

``In the past, it was kind of usually [a] `ride-me-while-I-was-hot type of deal,' '' Sanches said. ``And if I had a bad game, I was usually sent down. I never felt like it was that way here.''

-- CLARK SPENCER

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