Recap: Florida vs. Philadelphia
Sports Network | September 19, 2008
Miami, FL (Sports Network) - Cameron Maybin went 4-for-5 and scored three times, and the Florida Marlins stayed red-hot by pounding the Philadelphia Phillies 14-8 in the opener of a crucial three-game set between the NL East rivals.
Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla, and Alfredo Amezaga all homered for the Marlins, who ripped Phillies pitching for their ninth straight win, pulling to within 4 1/2 games of first-place Philadelphia in the process. Left for dead in the playoff chase earlier this month, the Marlins have ripped off nine straight wins, and still have two games left with the Phillies and three with the New York Mets to gain ground.
Florida entered play Friday trailing New York in the NL wild card race by five games. The Mets play at Atlanta on Friday night.
Ryan Howard homered and knocked in three runs for Philadelphia, which saw its seven-game win streak come to an end. The Phillies entered play Friday leading the NL East by a half-game over New York.
Josh Johnson (6-1) won despite giving up six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits in five innings.
Brett Myers' (10-12) string of success came to a crashing halt, as he was rocked for 10 runs on nine hits in four-plus innings. The right-hander had gone 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA in his last 11 starts before Friday, all since returning from a minor league stint after early season struggles.
The Phillies scored two in the first on an error by Mike Jacobs on a Howard grounder and a wild pitch by Johnson, but Florida ripped Myers for five runs in the home half.
The Marlins connected for five straight hits to start the first. John Baker's RBI single got them on the board, Jacobs doubled in two runs, and Uggla's two-run shot, his 31st, boosted Florida to a 5-2 lead.
Myers finally calmed down and got out of the first, and his offense put two more on the board in the second on Greg Dobbs' leadoff homer to right, and Chase Utley's sacrifice fly. The Phillies briefly took a 6-5 lead on Howard's two-run homer in the fifth, but Myers returned to his early season form in the home half.
Maybin singled, Baker walked, and Cantu doubled Maybin in to tie the game. Jacobs was intentionally walked, and Uggla singled in a run, mercifully bringing Myers' day to a close. Rudy Seanez promptly allowed an RBI groundout to Luis Gonzalez, and two batters later Amezaga's three-run homer, just his third of the season, to right put Florida in control 11-6.
Jacobs' two-run single in the sixth pushed the Marlins lead to 13-6, but Howard's sac fly in the seventh cut the deficit to six runs.
Shane Victorino's homer pulled the Phillies within 13-8 in the eighth, but Cantu's solo homer in the home half, his 29th, pushed the Marlins lead back to six.
Maybin ran his streak of consecutive at-bats with a hit to eight with four more hits Friday, tying a franchise record set by Preston Wilson in 2001. Maybin popped out in the eighth inning to end the streak...Florida played without shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who has missed two games since straining his shoulder in Wednesday's win over Houston...The Marlins complained after the second inning that a tattoo on Myers' left wrist was distracting, and the umpires made him put on a red long-sleeved undershirt...Florida has won seven of nine against the Phillies, and leads season series 10-6.
