Marlins, Braves Close In On Phillies

Kevin Millar hit a grand slam and the Florida Marlins routed Philadelphia for the second straight night, winning 12-1 Saturday to pull within 2-and-a-half games of the NL East-leading Phillies.

Cliff Floyd extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games with two doubles, a single and three RBIs. Mike Lowell homered for Florida. The Marlins won for the eighth time in nine games, including an 8-1 victory over the Phillies on Friday night. Florida is tied with Atlanta for second place.

Philadelphia, which held an eight-game lead on June 1, has gone 6-13 since then. The Phillies were 5-0 against the Marlins during the first two weeks of the season.

Matt Clement (4-5) worked six innings to earn the victory. He won for just the second time in his last seven starts.

The Marlins scored three times in the first inning and five more in the third for an 8-0 lead against Amaury Telemaco (5-4). Hr has only one win in his last eight starts.

Luis Castillo led off the Florida first with a single and Alex Gonzalez was hit by a pitch. Preston Wilson had an RBI grounder and Lowell followed with a home run.

Gonzalez, Floyd and Wilson hit singles that produced a run in the third, and Telemaco walked Lowell to load the bases. Millar then launched his first career slam.

Floyd delivered a three-run double in the sixth to make it 11-1. He is batting .400 in his last 17 games, with five home runs and 20 RBIs.

The Phillies scored in the fourth on Travis Lee`s RBI single.

Notes: The Phillies will recall RHP Nelson Figueroa from Triple-A Scranton to start Tuesday`s game against Atlanta. Figueroa will pitch in place of Robert Person, who is serving a six-game suspension for hitting Arizona`s Reggie Sanders on May 13. Person, who lost his appeal, will make his next start Thursday against the Marlins in Philadelphia. ... Telemaco, who had just one wild pitch all season coming into the game, threw two in the first inning. ... Philadelphia SS Jimmy Rollins has a streak of 19 stolen bases without being caught. ... Millar has hit safely in nine straight games, with two home runs and 11 RBIs. ... Florida is 17-8 since Tony Perez took over as manager. ... The Marlins honored the College World Series champion Miami Hurricanes before the game. Coach Jim Morris was joined by members of the Miami team that beat Stanford 12-1 last Saturday for their second national championship in three years, as well as former Hurricanes players Pat Burrell of Philadelphia and Charles Johnson and Dave Berg of Florida.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News