JUPITER, Fla. -- Trevor Richards is having a very good spring. Whether it's good enough to win a spot in Miami's starting rotation remains to be seen. But on Tuesday, Richards continued to make a case for himself.

In the Marlins' 8-1 win over the Mets, the right-hander struck out six over five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits, both doubles, while walking only one. Richards threw 75 pitches (49 strikes) in his longest performance of the spring, his fourth in what has been an impressive preseason.

Richards has thrown 13 1/3 innings and given up just four earned runs. He’s struck out 14 and walked only four. Richards continues to mix in a variety of offspeed pitches, all complementing his low-90s fastball and big league changeup.

“Curveball was there,” Richards said of his performance on Tuesday. “A couple of them got away, but overall they were there. Cutter was there as well. Got some swings and misses. Didn’t throw a whole lot of them, but showed it and got some feedback on it, so it’s a good day.”

Last year, Richards didn’t have the command of his curveball, so opposing batters never took it seriously.

“This year, if I can keep it in the zone, with good break on it, they’ll have to take it seriously,” Richards said. “It just adds another weapon.”

Richards is among a group of pitchers who are looking to crack Miami's starting rotation.

“It’s been an interesting camp for him,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Richards. “I think one of the things that we’ve talked about with Trevor is adding the breaking ball and reshaping his breaking ball where it’s a more effective pitch. We think it’s at a point where it’s going to get outs. Obviously he’s a guy with a great changeup. Everything works off of that. So it’s been a really good camp for Trevor.”

Richards went 4-9 with a 4.42 ERA in 25 starts last season. He struck out 130 in 126 1/3 innings.