Wild card? Marlins pull to four back

July 6, 200322 yr

Quite a change of attitude from the Herald today...

Wild card? Marlins pull to four back

By KEVIN BAXTER

Attention, Philadelphia Phillies: That object in your rearview mirror is closer than it appears. A lot closer.

With a 5-4 win over the flummoxed Phillies on Saturday night in front of a Veterans Stadium crowd of 52,110, the Marlins moved to four games behind Philadelphia in the race for the National League's wild-card playoff berth.

Historically, this is when the Marlins fold. But that won't happen this season, manager Jack McKeon promises.

''This team is not going to go away,'' he said. ``All it takes is a six-, seven-game winning streak to make a big difference. I think we can do it.''

So do his players. And with the way the Marlins have been playing lately, they're beginning to make believers out of the rest of the league.

''The Marlins are a good team,'' Phillies manager Admin Bowa said. ``Look at their lineup. That might be one of the best lineups in the league. And every arm they put out there throws 95, 96 [mph]. That's a good team.''

They put Brad Penny's arm out there first Saturday, and he held Philadelphia to two runs -- one earned -- in seven innings, striking out six and walking three. But he had to wait out another shaky effort by the bullpen before nailing down his seventh win in 13 decisions.

But the right-hander did more than pitch well. He ran well, too, outrunning the speedy Placido Polanco to first base after Polanco's bad-hop grounder consumed first baseman Derrek Lee with two on and two out and the Marlins protecting a 5-2 lead.

Lee dropped to his knees but recovered in time to throw to Penny to end the inning.

''That was awesome, the way he stayed with that ball,'' Penny said. ``That was the turning point in the game, probably.''

Both Penny and Lee pumped their fists, and teammates came out of the dugout to greet them with high-fives as they ran off the field.

''When you win, it's contagious,'' McKeon said. ``Everyone is pulling for everyone. That's what's fun. Winning is fun.''

Hitting, apparently, is contagious, too. A night after being held to one hit through eight innings, the Marlins came out swinging Saturday, scoring in the first on Iv?n Rodr?guez's 11th home run of the season.

They added another in the third inning on Miguel Cabrera's double and Luis Castillo's single through the hole at shortstop.

After the Phillies pushed across an unearned run in the fourth to make it 2-1, the Marlins scored three times in the fifth on Cabrera's fourth home run in 14 games, a run-scoring single by Rodr?guez and an RBI groundout by Mike Lowell.

Cabrera went 3 for 4, while Castillo and Rodr?guez each had two hits. Rodr?guez, who has at least one hit in 10 of his past 11 games, also had two RBI.

But the Marlins had to survive another bullpen meltdown to win for the fourth time in five games -- all those victories coming against Atlanta and Philadelphia, the top teams in the division.

After Michael Tejera retired the first batter he faced in the eighth, he gave up a walk and a single. McKeon then turned to rookie right-hander Nate Bump, who nearly got out of the inning unscathed when he got Mike Lieberthal to hit a broken-bat grounder to first.

But what should have been an inning-ending double play wound up setting up two runs when shortstop Alex Gonz?lez's throw sailed past a diving Bump and down the right-field line. But the Phillies had the potential tying run thrown out at second base to end the threat, and Braden Looper came on to pitch a hitless ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances.

That gave the Marlins 26 wins in their past 40 games and 45 victories overall, more than the world champion Anaheim Angels or the Minnesota Twins -- the teams that reached the American League Championship Series in 2002. And no team in the NL Central has won more games.

''We're right in the middle of this thing,'' Penny said.

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