Sun-Sentinal...

 

Another crazy eighth for the Marlins

 

By Ted Hutton

Sun-Sentinel

Posted July 27 2003

 

Marlins fans had no reason to look at the standings the last five and a half seasons but they might want to start checking now.

 

With Saturday's 10-5 win over the Phillies at Pro Player Stadium the Marlins moved to within three games of Philadelphia and the wild card spot.

 

The Marlins are also six games over .500 for the first time since the 1997 World Series season, which is the only time in the 10-year plus history of the franchise that the Marlins finished above that mark.

 

"You're kidding?" Marlins manager Jack McKeon said when informed of that fact. "Our goal is not to stay at six."

 

The Marlins are winning in many different ways and there is a palpable confidence running through the team as they refuse to wilt as the playoff race warms up. "These guys believe in themselves right now," McKeon said.

 

That is evidenced on the field, where there is a lot of fist-pumping going as the Marlins force themselves further into the playoff race.

 

Saturday it began in the top of the fifth when Florida starter Josh Beckett walked off the mound after getting three straight outs following a leadoff triple to preserve a 2-1 lead.

 

"I think that was the turning point in the game," McKeon said.

 

It was Pudge Rodriguez's turn to pump his fist in the bottom of the fifth when he hit a double to drive in two runs and make it 4-1 Marlins. Then it became a free-for all as the Marlins pumped and high-fived all around while piling on Philadelphia in the eighth inning for the second night in a row.

 

"I think this team can be in the playoffs," Rodriguez said. "We have a little bit of everything on this team. It's going to be a fun season."

 

Last season the Marlins were 45-43 at the All-Star break and went 2-7 in their first nine games after the All-Star break and were never heard from again.

 

This year's version has made it clear they will not go down quietly, if at all.

 

Saturday they used Phillies errors, strong starting pitching, speed and clutch hitting to beat the Phillies for the seventh straight time, outscoring them 49-21 in the process. Beckett gave up one run in six innings to improve to 5-4.

 

In the critical bottom of the fifth it was speed that got things started.

 

Juan Pierre got a bunt single with one out and promptly stole second. Then Luis Castillo hit a fly to center, and the Phillie's Marlon Byrd got in position to make the routine catch, but he also kept one eye on Pierre who was tagging up. Bad move, as Byrd dropped the ball and Pierre ended up on third and Castillo at first.

 

That brought up Rodriguez, who was hitting .420 with men in scoring position. He added to that with a double and drove in the two speedsters and brought out another display of enthusiasm from the usually stone-face Rodriguez, who also was animated during Friday's 11-5 come-from-behind win over Philadelphia.

 

The Marlins scored 8 runs Friday night in the eighth, and 5 on Saturday as the broke it open.

 

"We've played two bad games the last two nights," said Phillies manager Admin Bowa. "No one is going to make excuses. You're going to have some games where you stink."

 

Becket had his second consective strong outing and third since coming off the disabled list. The 23-year-old righthander improved to 5-4 on the season as he went six innings, giving up one run on seven hits. Beckett struck out nine, tying his season best, with three of those coming against Phillie slugger Jim Thome. It also Beckett's second consecutive win since changing his uniform number from 61 to 21.

 

Braden Looper got the save and his first major league hit in the bottom of the eighth. Prior to that he had been 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. His last at-bat was nearly 16 months ago.

 

Looper made it to third on a single by Pierre and then scored his first major league run on a wild pitch.

 

"I think I found a pinch runner," McKeon joked after the game. There were smiles all around, as the Marlins march toward August with the playoffs still within their grasp.

 

Miami Herald...

 

Marlins take a walk on wild-card side

After botching lead, Florida literally strolls to win, narrowing playoff gap with Phillies

By CLARK SPENCER

cspencer@herald.com

 

The advantage still belongs to the Phillies in the National League's scrambled wild-card picture, and with two solid months of baseball left to go. No wonder manager Jack McKeon could not bring himself to call this a ''do or die'' time for the Marlins as they prepared to open a nine-game homestand Friday against the Phillies.

 

But if Friday's late-inning fireworks were any indication of things to come, it could turn into a wild ride for the Marlins and their fans, something not experienced in South Florida since the 1997 season.

 

''Get on board, it's going to be one helluva ride,'' said owner Jeffrey Loria after his Marlins walked away, literally and figuratively, with an 11-5 victory against the Phillies at Pro Player Stadium.

 

A crowd of 18,106 was high-fiving in the eighth inning when the Marlins capitalized on five walks and a wild pitch to score eight runs and rectify their own squandered lead the inning before. Thus, a 4-3 lead for the Phillies went up in smoke, and the Marlins closed the Phillies' lead in the wild-card race to four games.

 

The victory was also their sixth straight against the Phillies.

 

''Every series is a big series for us coming up now,'' McKeon finally admitted after Friday's game.

 

Said rookie pitcher Dontrelle Willis, who delivered another outstanding start: 'Big `W' for us. In the second half [of the season] every 'W' is key now.''

 

When the Phillies erased the Marlins' 3-0 lead with a run in the sixth and three more in the seventh, the evidence pointed to a Florida loss. The big blow came off new reliever Ugueth Urbina, who served up a three-run homer to Placido Polanco that put the Phillies on top.

 

But just as Urbina was supposed to prevent such uprisings for the Marlins when the they obtained him in their July 11 trade with the Rangers, Mike Williams was expected to do exactly the same for the Phillies when they acquired him Sunday in a trade with the Pirates.

 

So much for those grand plans.

 

Williams not only walked three of the five batters he faced, but he was charged with an error when he threw wildly to first after fielding Juan Pierre's bunt. His replacement, Carlos Silva, fared even worse by walking two batters of his own and giving up hits to four others.

 

''Patience is a virtue,'' McKeon said of the walks taken by Marlins hitters. ``Somebody said that. I think it was Abe Lincoln or somebody. One of those guys.''

 

Whatever. McKeon properly described it as a ``funny game.''

 

Willis, fresh off his worst-ever game when he was the victim in a 16-2 loss to the Cubs on Sunday, bounced back Friday with another of his better performances. He delivered five shutout innings before Marlon Byrd led off the sixth with only his fourth home run this season. But Willis worked his way out of a jam, getting Pat Burrell on a called third strike to end the sixth, then pumped his left fist in exclamation.

 

The Marlins had what appeared to be a relatively safe 3-1 lead at the time. But the bullpen allowed it to collapse in the seventh. Nate Bump gave up an infield single, Armando Almanza walked the only batter he faced, and Urbina -- after striking out Byrd -- gave up a three-run, two-out homer to Polanco.

 

What gnawed at McKeon wasn't Urbina's gopher ball as much as the number of scoring chances the Marlins wasted early in the game when they stranded 11 runners through the first seven innings. Amid the squandered opportunities, McKeon even turned to utility man Andy Fox on the bench and said, ``It could come back and haunt us.''

 

The Marlins botched a three-run lead in Atlanta on Wednesday and allowed the game to go into extra innings, only to come up with a game-winning home run in the 12th from Mike Mordecai. The scenario was remarkably similar Friday, minus the Mordecai heroics: a blown, three-run lead -- and yet a win in the end.

 

''This is two out of the last three games where we blew a three-run lead, came back and recovered,'' McKeon said.

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