Marlins Off The Hook

The Florida Marlins picked the right time to finally beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

Ryan Dempster struck out nine in eight innings as the Marlins won the opener of their showdown with the NL East-leading Phillies 8-1 on Friday night.

The Marlins, who lost their first five against the Phillies this season, moved within 3½ games of Philadelphia with their seventh win in eight games.

"It`s a nice feeling to come to the ballpark knowing you have a chance to soon play for first place," Marlins left fielder Cliff Floyd said. "We knew coming in how big this series is."

The Phillies have dropped seven of 11, losing five games off their division lead.

Dempster (8-7) allowed one run and seven hits to win for the fifth time in six starts.

"This was my best outing," Dempster said. "The way I pitched, I probably should have had a shutout. The fact is, my guys scored me a bunch of runs and played great defense. When that happens, it puts me in a position where I just want to throw strikes and get ahead of the hitters. It worked tonight."

Floyd, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games with his 20th homer, is batting .335 with 59 RBI this season.

"He just keeps rolling along," said Tony Perez, now 16-8 as Florida`s manager.

The Marlins scored three runs in the third against Randy Wolf (4-8). Derrek Lee led off with a walk, Redmond singled and Dempster reached on a throwing error by catcher Johnny Estrada to load the bases.

Luis Castillo tapped a grounder up the third-base line that Scott Rolen allowed to roll to the bag, scoring Lee with the first run. Alex Gonzalez and Mike Lowell added RBI singles.

Mike Redmond, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI, hit an RBI double in the fourth and scored on Castillo`s double.

Floyd led off the fifth with a solo home run to center field, and Preston Wilson followed with a double to chase Wolf. Kevin Millar added an RBI double and Redmond had a run-scoring groundout.

Wolf allowed seven runs -- six earned -- and 10 hits in four-plus innings for his fourth straight loss.

"Every fifth day is my opportunity to help this team, but tonight I helped the other team and that`s brutal," Wolf said.

Wolf won four of six starts at one stretch this season, but has fallen on hard times of late.

The Phillies didn`t help themselves by leaving the bases loaded in the first and not scoring, and then stranding two more runners in the second. Wolf was then roughed up in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

"Those are the things that a young pitcher goes through," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "I wouldn`t say that one inning turned the game around."

The Phillies scored their only run in the fourth on an RBI single by Estrada.

The Marlins had 13 hits, including four doubles and Floyd`s homer.

"That`s a hot team right now," Wolf said. "You can`t give them anything good to hit. If you throw them a pitch over the plate, it`s a recipe for disaster."

Game notes:
The Phillies played the first of 14 consecutive games against Florida and Atlanta, their closest pursuers in the division. ... Rolen left in the fifth with a migraine headache ... The Phillies loaded the bases against Dempster in the first with none out, but Rolen struck out and Travis Lee hit into an inning-ending double play. ... Marlins C Charles Johnson was scratched before the game with a sore right biceps. He is day to day. ... Marlins utility man Andy Fox is experiencing tendinitis in his left forearm and is expected to miss at least 10 more games.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: 6 ABC - Action News