Recap: Florida vs. Houston
Sports Network | September 18, 2008
Miami, FL (Sports Network) - John Baker finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and scored twice, as the streaking Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the scuffling Houston Astros with an 8-1 victory from Dolphin Stadium.
Cameron Maybin collected four hits and scored two runs for Florida, which heads into a critical three-game showdown with Philadelphia on a season-high eight-game winning streak. The Marlins trail the front-running Phillies by 5 1/2 games in the NL East. Florida also trails the New York Mets by five games in the wild card standings.
Scott Olsen (8-10) gave up one run on three hits in seven innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Alberto Arias (1-1) absorbed the loss for Houston after he allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings. Chris Sampson and Wesley Wright each yielded two runs in relief. The Astros, who were limited to just four hits, have lost five games in a row to fall five games back in the race for the NL wild card.
Lance Berkman's RBI groundout in the first chased home Kazuo Matsui, who led off the contest with a double, and gave the Astros an early 1-0 lead. The Marlins, though, pulled ahead in the second. Arias walked the bases loaded with two outs and Baker hit a chopper back up the middle that plated a pair of runners.
Florida added two more runs in the fourth. Maybin lined a one-out single before Baker and Jorge Cantu stroked back-to-back doubles for a 4-1 Marlins lead. Maybin led off the sixth with a base hit and Baker followed with an RBI double. One out later, Mike Jacobs slapped a run-scoring single to right to make it a 6-1 game.
In the eighth, Cantu led off by lofting a fly ball tight to the line in right that Hunter Pence dropped for a two-base error. Two batters later, Dan Uggla reached on an infield single and Cody Ross smacked a two-run double off the left-field wall later in the frame for an 8-1 Marlins lead.
The eight-game win streak is the longest such streak since the Marlins took nine consecutive decisions from August 20-29, 2006...Houston has been outscored 38-5 during its skid...Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez missed the game with a strained left shoulder...Florida won the season series, 4-2...Berkman went 0-for-4. He is hitless in his last 23 at-bats.
