Marlins, Vazquez earn win
MIAMI - Javier Vazquez pitched seven shutout innings in his best start of the season Saturday, and the Florida Marlins defeated cross-state rival Tampa Bay for the second day in a row, 5-3.
MIAMI - Javier Vazquez pitched seven shutout innings in his best start of the season Saturday, and the Florida Marlins defeated cross-state rival Tampa Bay for the second day in a row, 5-3.
Vazquez (3-4) had made only one quality start previously this season, but he limited the Rays to three hits and two walks. He had a season-high seven strikeouts and lowered his ERA from 7.55 to 6.41 in his longest outing since July 26.
The veteran righthander outpitched Rays ace David Price (5-4), who went 62/3 innings and gave up five runs, including homers to Hanley Ramirez and Omar Infante.
Like Vazquez, Ramirez and Infante are trying to overcome early-season struggles. Ramirez singled and hit his fourth homer and has seven hits in the last four games, raising his average to .224. Infante hit a two-run homer in the seventh, his first of the year.
Logan Morrison had a two-run double for the Marlins, who improved to 129-107 (.545) in interleague play, best in the NL.
Once Vazquez departed for a pinch-hitter with the Marlins leading, 5-0, they needed five relievers to get the last six outs and complete a five-hitter. The bullpen walked four batters in the eighth before Johnny Damon hit a two-run single.
Leo Nunez struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save, most in the majors. He has yet to blow a save.
Tampa Bay finished 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
The Rays, who began the day with a half-game lead over Boston in the AL East, have lost three in a row for the first time since starting the season 0-6.
They've scored just 27 runs in the last nine games, and the slump continued against Vazquez, who threw a few 92-m.p.h. fastballs early but relied mostly on breaking stuff.
Marlins 5, Rays 3
Tampa Bay 000 000 030 – 3 5 1
Florida 200 001 20x – 5 6 0
Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Fuld cf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .229
c-Ruggiano ph-rf 1 1 0 0 1 0 .000
Zobrist rf-2b 5 0 0 0 0 2 .260
Joyce lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .358
d-B.Upton ph-cf 0 1 0 0 1 0 .258
Longoria 3b 3 1 0 0 1 0 .211
Kotchman 1b 2 0 1 0 1 0 .343
e-Shoppach ph-c 0 0 0 1 1 0 .164
S.Rodriguez 2b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .210
f-Damon ph-lf 1 0 1 2 0 0 .269
Jaso c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .211
A.Russell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
C.Ramos p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
B.Gomes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Brignac ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .170
Price p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000
J.Cruz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
b-E.Johnson ph-1b 2 0 1 0 0 1 .271
Totals 32 3 5 3 6 11
Florida AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Bonifacio cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .279
H.Ramirez ss 4 2 2 1 0 0 .224
Morrison lf 4 0 1 2 0 2 .322
G.Sanchez 1b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .311
Stanton rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .262
J.Buck c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .221
Helms 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .220
Infante 2b 3 1 1 2 0 0 .232
Vazquez p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .231
a-O.Martinez ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .125
M.Dunn p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
R.Webb p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Choate p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Mujica p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
L.Nunez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Totals 30 5 6 5 2 5
a-struck out for Vazquez in the 7th. b-struck out for J.Cruz in the 8th. c-walked for Fuld in the 8th. d-walked for Joyce in the 8th. e-walked for Kotchman in the 8th. f-singled for S.Rodriguez in the 8th. E: Brignac (4). LOB: Tampa Bay 8, Florida 3. 2B: Kotchman (5), S.Rodriguez (9), Morrison (9). HR: H.Ramirez (4), off Price; Infante (1), off Price. RBIs: Shoppach (7), Damon 2 (28), H.Ramirez (16), Morrison 2 (16), Infante 2 (16). SB: E.Johnson (4). RLSP: Tampa Bay 5 (Price 2, Brignac, Jaso, Zobrist); Florida 1 (Stanton). RA: Ruggiano, G.Sanchez. GIDP: Stanton. DP: Tampa Bay 1 (Longoria, Zobrist, E.Johnson).
Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Price (L 5-4) 62/3 6 5 5 1 4 107 3.89
J.Cruz 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.60
A.Russell 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.60
C.Ramos 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.86
B.Gomes 2/3 0 0 0 1 0 7 2.89
Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Vazquez (W 3-4) 7 3 0 0 2 7 106 6.41
M.Dunn 2/3 0 2 2 2 1 23 2.61
R.Webb 0 0 1 1 1 0 5 3.05
Choate 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 1.35
Mujica (H 3) 1/3 1 0 0 0 1 6 3.68
L.Nunez (S 17) 1 1 0 0 0 2 20 2.66
R.Webb pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.Choate pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.A.Russell pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. IR-S: C.Ramos 1-0, B.Gomes 1-0, R.Webb 2-0, Choate 3-1, Mujica 3-2. IBB: off Vazquez (Brignac). Umpires: Home, Wally Bell; first, Laz Diaz; second, Scott Barry; third, John Hirschbeck. T: 2:57. A: 21,814 (38,560).
Brewers 3, Rockies 2
MILWAUKEE - Shaun Marcum won his sixth straight decision with eight effective innings and Jonathan Lucroy homered, lifting Milwaukee over Colorado.
Milwaukee has won nine of 12 overall and has the NL's best winning percentage at home at .714 (15-6) after John Axford survived an adventure in the ninth for his 11th save.
Marcum (6-1) allowed his only run on a two-out homer to Carlos Gonzalez in the first and is 6-0 in his last nine starts with a 2.10 ERA.
Colorado 100 000 001 – 2 6 2
Milwaukee 200 010 00x – 3 5 0
Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Fowler cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .241
Herrera 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .279
C.Gonzalez lf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .244
Tulowitzki ss 3 1 2 0 1 0 .254
S.Smith rf 4 0 0 1 0 0 .301
Jo.Lopez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .205
Daley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Mat.Reynolds p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-Giambi ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .222
1-Spilborghs pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .219
Wigginton 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .233
J.Morales c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .222
Mortensen p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000
Amezaga 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286
Totals 32 2 6 2 2 10
Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Weeks 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .292
C.Hart rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .237
Braun lf 4 0 1 0 0 3 .301
Fielder 1b 2 1 1 1 2 0 .287
McGehee 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .260
Y.Betancourt ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .227
Lucroy c 3 1 1 1 0 0 .320
C.Gomez cf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .234
Marcum p 2 0 0 0 1 1 .143
Axford p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Totals 28 3 5 2 3 8
a-singled for Mat.Reynolds in the 9th.1-ran for Giambi in the 9th. E: Jo.Lopez (4), Herrera (2). LOB: Colorado 5, Milwaukee 4. 2B: Tulowitzki (9), Weeks (11), Fielder (13), C.Gomez (7). 3B: Tulowitzki (2). HR: C.Gonzalez (6), off Marcum; Lucroy (4), off Mortensen. RBIs: C.Gonzalez (26), S.Smith (20), Fielder (36), Lucroy (18). CS: Fowler (6), Braun (1). RLSP: Colorado 2 (S.Smith 2); Milwaukee 1 (Y.Betancourt). RA: S.Smith, C.Hart, McGehee. DP: Colorado 1 (Herrera).
Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Mortnsn (L 1-1) 62/3 5 3 2 3 5 105 2.17
Daley 1 0 0 0 0 3 17 0.00
Mat.Reynolds 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 4 3.27
Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Marcum (W 6-1) 8 4 1 1 2 8 108 2.37
Axford (S 11) 1 2 1 1 0 2 15 4.43
IR-S: Daley 1-0. WP: Mortensen. Umpires: Home, Gary Darling; first, Bruce Dreckman; second, Paul Emmel; third, Rob Drake. T: 2:39. A: 42,240 (41,900).
Giants 3, Athletics 0
SAN FRANCISCO - Tim Lincecum pitched a three-hitter, and San Francisco beat the cross-bay rival Oakland for its fourth straight victory.
The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner allowed Ryan Sweeney's two-out single in the first before retiring 21 straight batters, leading the Giants past the A's for the second day in a row.
Lincecum (4-4) struck out five and walked none for his eighth career complete game.
Oakland 000 000 000 – 0 3 2
San Francisco 100 000 02x – 3 9 0
Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Crisp cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .268
Barton 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .214
Sweeney rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .313
C.Jackson lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .261
M.Ellis 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .210
Kouzmanoff 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .198
An.LaRoche 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .232
Blevins p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Powell c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .243
1-K.Suzuki pr-c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .246
Pennington ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 .223
Anderson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-Matsui ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .234
Devine p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Breslow p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Ziegler p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
b-DeJesus ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .231
Totals 30 0 3 0 0 6
San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Torres cf 3 1 0 0 1 2 .286
F.Sanchez 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .276
Posey c 4 1 2 1 0 0 .284
Burrell lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .230
Schierholtz rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .256
C.Ross rf-lf 3 1 1 1 0 0 .256
Huff 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .228
M.Tejada 3b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .218
Fontenot ss 3 0 1 0 1 0 .220
Lincecum p 3 0 0 0 0 1 .045
Totals 31 3 9 3 2 7
a-grounded out for Anderson in the 6th. b-singled for Ziegler in the 9th.1-ran for Powell in the 8th. E: Kouzmanoff (7), Powell (1). LOB: Oakland 3, San Francisco 9. 2B: F.Sanchez (9), Posey (5), Fontenot (7). RBIs: Posey (21), C.Ross (11), M.Tejada (14). S: Lincecum. SF: M.Tejada. RLSP: Oakland 1 (Sweeney); San Francisco 5 (Huff, Torres, C.Ross, Lincecum 2). RA: Posey, Burrell, M.Tejada, Fontenot.
Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Anderson (L 2-4) 5 5 1 1 1 5 91 3.18
Devine 1 1 0 0 0 0 14 0.00
Breslow 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 4.24
Ziegler 1/3 2 2 2 0 0 11 1.80
Blevins 2/3 1 0 0 1 0 11 4.40
San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Lincecum (W 4-4) 9 3 0 0 0 6 133 2.06
IR-S: Blevins 1-1. IBB: off Blevins (Fontenot). HBP: by Anderson (C.Ross). Umpires: Home, C.B. Bucknor; first, Dale Scott; second, Jerry Meals; third, John Tumpane.
Pirates 6, Tigers 2
PITTSBURGH - Andrew McCutchen went 3 for 4 and scored twice, and Kevin Correia finally won at home as Pittsburgh beat Detroit.
Correia (6-4) allowed two runs and seven hits over 62/3 innings.
Detroit 000 200 000 – 2 10 0
Pittsburgh 000 003 30x – 6 12 0
Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
A.Jackson cf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .230
Santiago 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .293
Dirks lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .286
Mi.Cabrera 1b 4 1 2 1 0 1 .314
Boesch rf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .267
Perry p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Schlereth p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
b-V.Martinez ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .310
Alburquerque p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Jh.Peralta ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .289
Avila c 4 0 2 0 0 1 .290
Inge 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .210
Scherzer p 2 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Raburn rf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .209
Totals 36 2 10 2 1 6
Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
A.McCutchen cf 4 2 3 0 0 0 .259
Tabata lf 4 2 2 0 0 2 .243
G.Jones rf 3 1 1 1 0 0 .254
a-Diaz ph-rf 1 0 1 2 0 0 .237
Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Hanrahan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Walker 2b 3 0 0 1 0 1 .283
Overbay 1b 3 0 0 1 0 2 .230
Doumit c 4 0 2 0 0 1 .294
Br.Wood 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .217
Cedeno ss 4 0 2 0 0 1 .254
Correia p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000
Veras p 0 1 0 0 1 0 ---
c-Paul ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .239
Totals 33 6 12 5 1 10
a-singled for G.Jones in the 7th. b-grounded out for Schlereth in the 8th. c-struck out for Veras in the 8th. LOB: Detroit 8, Pittsburgh 6. 2B: Dirks (1), Mi.Cabrera (13), Boesch (10), G.Jones (5). RBIs: Mi.Cabrera (30), Boesch (20), G.Jones (16), Diaz 2 (8), Walker (30), Overbay (16). SF: Walker, Overbay. RLSP: Detroit 5 (Mi.Cabrera, Avila, A.Jackson 3); Pittsburgh 3 (Walker, Correia, Cedeno). RA: Dirks, Jh.Peralta, G.Jones, Walker. GIDP: A.Jackson. DP: Detroit 1 (Avila, Avila, Jh.Peralta, Mi.Cabrera, Santiago, Jh.Peralta, Mi.Cabrera); Pittsburgh 1 (Walker, Cedeno, Overbay).
Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Scherzer (L 6-1) 52/3 7 3 3 0 7 99 2.98
Perry 1/3 3 3 3 1 0 15 10.00
Schlereth 1 1 0 0 0 1 10 3.00
Alburquerque 1 1 0 0 0 2 15 3.68
Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Correia (W 6-4) 62/3 7 2 2 0 4 96 3.84
Veras (H 7) 11/3 0 0 0 1 1 20 2.75
Beimel 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 4.63
Hanrahan (S 13) 1 1 0 0 0 1 11 1.66
Beimel pitched to 2 batters in the 9th.Perry pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. IR-S: Perry 1-0, Schlereth 3-3, Veras 2-0, Hanrahan 2-0. Umpires: Home, Chris Guccione; first, Mike Winters; second, Mike Muchlinski; third, Mark Wegner.
T: 3:08. A: 37,958 (38,362).