Houston (80-70) lost 5-1 at Florida in Tuesday's opener, sending the Astros to their third straight loss since having to wait two days over the weekend while Ike came through Texas' Gulf Coast.

While ace Roy Oswalt was touched for all five runs in the first two innings, the Astros' offense continued to struggle after totaling one hit and one run in losing a pair of relocated home games to NL Central-leading Chicago on Sunday and Monday in Milwaukee.

"We've got to figure out a way to get our offense going a little bit," said Astros manager Cecil Cooper, whose team is hitting .070 (6-got-86) during its current skid. "Either they're making good pitches or we're not making good swings. Something's not happening."

On Tuesday, the Astros had five hits and scored on Kaz Matsui's groundout in the top of the eighth. Houston had won six in a row and 14 of 15 prior to the delay to move back into the thick of the wild-card race and hope to regain that form.

The Astros are three games back of wild-card leader New York.

"We just kind of got going thrown in a little whirlwind and some other things were on your mind," said Astros' outfielder Hunter Pence, who is 0-for-9 since having a 13-game hitting streak snapped. "We're still worried about what's at home, but we're back in the baseball mode again."

Houston now faces Florida's Ricky Nolasco (14-7, 3.56 ERA) as he tries for his fourth consecutive winning decision after allowing three runs and seven hits while striking out eight in 7 2-3 innings of a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia last Wednesday.

The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA over his last six outings, and 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA in two career starts versus the Astros.

Jorge Cantu hit a three-run homer and Hanley Ramirez added two hits Tuesday for the Marlins (78-72), who have won six in a row and are still clinging to playoff hopes, sitting five games back in the wild-card race.

"That's the beauty of the pennant race, everybody is just thrilled to be in this," Cantu said. "We're not out, we're not out."

Cantu is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with four homers and 11 RBIs in his last six contests.

Brandon Backe (9-12, 5.44) is scheduled to return to the mound for the Astros after missing one start due to elbow soreness.

"I said from the very beginning, I could take the ball," Backe told the Astros' official Web site. "The ball was taken away from me. I was sore. I was being honest with them."

In his most recent start, Backe, a Galveston, Texas native who left behind family and friends affected by the brunt of the storm, allowed three runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 9-7, 11-inning victory over the Cubs on Sept 2.

The right-hander is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three career starts against Florida and allowed five hits in five innings of a 5-0 win over the Marlins on April 12.