CABRERA'S SLAM FUELS MARLINS' 9TH INNING COMEBACK
5-Run Frame Snaps 5-Game 'L' Streak
PHILADELPHIA, July 5 (AP) - Miguel Cabrera's grand slam highlighted a five-run
top of the ninth inning and the Florida Marlins ended a five-game losing streak
with an 8-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.
The Marlins entered the ninth inning trailing by a run but the first three
hitters reached base safely, setting the table for Cabrera's heroics.
Florida opened the scoring with single runs in the second and fourth
innings. Juan Encarnacion's lead-off homer in the second off Phillies
starter Vicente Padilla broke a scoreless tie and Alex Gonzalez's single in the
fourth gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
Marlins starter Brad Penny shut the Phillies out until the seventh inning but
things fell apart quickly. With one out and the bases empty, Jim Thome
launched his league-leading 27th home run of the season, cutting the Marlins'
lead to 2-1. A rattled Penny then walked Bobby Abreu and uncorked a wild
pitch, allowing Abreu to advance to second. Mike Lieberthal then belted a
two-run home run into the left field stands, putting the Phillies on top,
3-2. After Pat Burrell reached on an error Penny walked David Bell, before
taking a walk of his own--out of the game and into the locker room. He was
pulled in favor of Miguel Tejera who ended the inning while avoiding further
damage.
The Marlins tied the game in the top of the eighth. With one out Juan
Pierre singled off reliever Terry Adams. Luis Castillo followed with a
base hit to right, but right fielder Abreu cut down Pierre trying to advance to
third. The Marlins got a huge two-out double from Ivan Rodriguez, driving
Castillo home with the tying run.
The Phillies regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Placido
Polanco drew a lead-off walk from Armando Almanza and Jimmy Rollins dropped down
a bunt and beat it out, with Polanco advancing to second. Thome followed
by bouncing a single through the middle, scoring Polanco, but Pierre gunned down
Rollins trying to advance to third. Abreu walked but Almanza retired
Lieberthal and Burrell to end the inning with the Phillies ahead, 4-3.
Jose Mesa came on for Philadelphia to try and close out the game, having
successfully converted eight consecutive save opportunities. But
Encarnacion greeted him by lining a single to left. Derrek Lee followed
with a potential double play grounder to third but Bell booted the ball for an
error, leaving runners at first and second with none out. Gonzalez then
dropped down a perfect bunt, which went for an infield hit, loading the
bases. That brought Cabrera to the plate and he crushed a 1-1 Mesa
fastball far over the left field wall for a grand slam and a 7-3 Marlins
advantage. When pinch hitter Brian Banks drew a walk, Mesa was pulled,
having faced five batters and retiring none of them. Hector Mercado came
on for the Phillies, and Banks was thrown out trying to steal second, but Pierre
walked and stole second successfully, then scored on Luis Castillo's double to
right.
The Marlins handed an 8-4 lead to Braden Looper in the bottom of the ninth and,
after allowing a single to Bell, he retired the Phillies in order to end the
game.
The two clubs are now in a virtual tie for the National League's wildcard lead,
10 games over .500.
7/5/2003, Fla03-Phi03, Veterans Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Marlins 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 8 14 1 5 0 2003 Phillies 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 4 6 1 6 3 Marlins AB R H BI AVG Phillies AB R H BI AVG Pierre cf 4 1 2 0 .276 Polanco 2b 4 1 0 0 .263 Castillo,L 2b 5 1 2 1 .321 Rollins ss 4 0 1 0 .251 Rodriguez,I c 4 0 2 1 .260 Thome 1b 4 1 2 2 .320 Lowell 3b 5 1 1 0 .279 Abreu rf 1 1 0 0 .320 Encarnacion rf 4 2 3 1 .299 Lieberthal c 4 1 1 2 .331 Lee,De 1b 4 1 0 0 .277 Burrell lf 4 0 0 0 .199 Gonzalez,A ss 4 1 3 1 .309 Mercado p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cabrera,M lf 4 1 1 4 .340 Bell,D 3b 3 0 1 0 .194 Penny p 2 0 0 0 .125 Byrd cf 4 0 1 0 .307 Tejera p 0 0 0 0 .125 Padilla p 2 0 0 0 .049 Hollandsworth ph 1 0 0 0 .242 Michaels ph 1 0 0 0 .281 Almanza p 0 0 0 0 .000 Adams p 0 0 0 0 .000 Banks ph 0 0 0 0 .253 Mesa p 0 0 0 0 .000 Looper,B p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Ledee lf 1 0 0 0 .264 37 8 14 8 32 4 6 4 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Penny 6.1 3 3 3 3 5 93 52 3.85 Tejera 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 6 4 4.10 Almanza W 3-3 1.0 2 1 1 2 1 28 15 6.23 Looper,B 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 16 11 3.65 9.0 6 4 4 5 9 143 82 Phillies INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Padilla 7.0 7 2 2 0 6 85 66 3.62 Adams BS 1 1.0 3 1 1 0 0 8 5 2.29 Mesa BS 6, L 0-4 0.0 3 4 3 1 0 12 6 6.47 Mercado 1.0 1 1 1 1 1 17 9 6.60 9.0 14 8 7 2 7 122 86 Fla: Hollandsworth batted for Tejera in the 8th Banks batted for Almanza in the 9th Phi: Michaels batted for Padilla in the 7th Ledee inserted at lf in the 9th E-Lowell, Bell,D. 2B-Castillo,L(17), Rodriguez,I(19), Lowell(29). HR-Encarnacion(9), Cabrera,M(4), Thome(27), Lieberthal(7). RBI-Castillo,L(38), Rodriguez,I(55), Encarnacion(49), Gonzalez,A(51), Cabrera,M 4(11), Thome 2(76), Lieberthal 2(38). SB-Pierre(31). CS-Banks. K-Rodriguez,I 2, Encarnacion, Lee,De 2, Penny 2, Polanco, Rollins, Thome, Lieberthal, Burrell, Bell,D, Byrd, Padilla, Ledee. BB-Pierre, Banks, Polanco, Abreu 3, Bell,D. HBP-Rodriguez,I. HB-Padilla. WP-Penny. GWRBI: Cabrera,M Temperature: 77, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 15 MPH. Attendance: 37,518 Game Time: 2:43