LOWELL HOMERS IN 4TH STRAIGHT GAME, FISH EKE OUT 'W'
Wills Wins 5th Consecutive Decision
MIAMI, Aug. 11 (AP) - Mike Lowell homered for the fourth consecutive game and
Dontrelle Willis pitched into the eighth inning as the Florida Marlins defeated
the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, at Pro Player Stadium. Willis (9-4) has now
won his last five decisions. The victory moved the Marlins 1/2 game ahead
of the idle Philadelphia Phillies for the lead in the race for the National
League wildcard slot.
Odalis Perez (7-12) was the hard luck loser for the Dodgers, allowing just two
runs (one earned) in seven innings of work.
The Marlins took the lead in the bottom of the second when Miguel Cabrera
singled with one out and Brian Banks followed with a base hit of his own.
The baserunners ended up on second and third when center fielder Jason Romano
overran the ball for an error. Alex Gonzalez then lifted a sacrifice fly
to center, scoring Cabrera with the game's first run.
Florida doubled its lead when Lowell led off the fourth with a home run that
landed in the seats above the scoreboard in straight away left field.
Lowell--the reigning National League Player of the Week--has now homered five
times in his last four games, and seven times thus far in the month of
August. Lowell is the third major leaguer--Carlos Delgado of Toronto and
Adam Dunn of Cincinnati are the others--this season to hit home runs in four
consecutive games on two separate occasions. Lowell also accomplished the
feat in mid-June.
The Dodgers pushed back with a run in the fifth. Jolbert Cabrera doubled
with one out and David Ross drew a free pass from Willis. Romano then
followed with a double to left-center, scoring Cabrera and advancing Ross to
third. But Willis retired Cesar Izturis on a shallow fly to Juan
Encarnacion in right and Perez rolled out to short to end the inning, stranding
the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position.
The Marlins had a chance to add some insurance in the sixth but Alex Gonzalez
rolled into an around the horn double play with the bases loaded to end the
threat.
Willis nursed the 2-1 lead into the eighth, but pinch hitter Ron Coomer singled
with one out and was replaced by pinch runner Alex Cora. Mike Kinkade was
announced as a pinch hitter for Perez, but Marlins manager Jack McKeon removed
Willis in favor of right-hander Ugeuth Urbina. The Dodgers countered with
Robin Ventura, but Urbina won the battle by striking Ventura out. Rickey
Henderson singled to left, with Cora holding at second. Urbina then
retired Paul Lo Duca on a ground ball to end the inning.
The Marlins threatened to add to their lead in the bottom of the eighth, but
reliever Tom Martin induced another inning-ending double play. In the top
of the ninth, Urbina struck out Shawn Green, and then was replaced by closer
Braden Looper who set down Adrian Beltre on a grounder to third. Cabrera
kept the game alive by blooping a single into shallow left field but Looper
fanned Ross to end the game for his 29th save.
8/11/2003, LA03-Fla03, Pro Player Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Dodgers 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 1 5 2 2003 Marlins 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 x 2 8 0 7 2 Dodgers AB R H BI AVG Marlins AB R H BI AVG Henderson lf 4 0 3 0 .468 Pierre cf 4 0 0 0 .273 Lo Duca 1b 4 0 0 0 .253 Castillo,L 2b 4 0 2 0 .296 Martin,T p 0 0 0 0 .000 Rodriguez,I c 3 0 1 0 .254 Green rf 4 0 0 0 .287 Lowell 3b 4 1 3 1 .295 Beltre 3b 4 0 0 0 .211 Encarnacion rf 4 0 0 0 .285 Cabrera,J 2b 4 1 2 0 .282 Cabrera,M lf 3 1 1 0 .310 Ross,D c 3 0 0 0 .222 Looper,B p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Romano cf 3 0 1 1 .143 Banks 1b 1 0 1 0 .279 Izturis ss 2 0 0 0 .271 Gonzalez,A ss 2 0 0 1 .296 Coomer ph 1 0 1 0 .282 Willis p 3 0 0 0 .194 Cora pr 0 0 0 0 .224 Urbina p 0 0 0 0 .000 Perez,Od p 2 0 0 0 .114 Lee,De 1b 0 0 0 0 .265 Kinkade ph 0 0 0 0 .227 28 2 8 2 Ventura ph 1 0 0 0 .291 32 1 7 1 Dodgers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Perez,Od L 7-12 7.0 7 2 1 3 2 110 68 3.81 Martin,T 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 15 10 1.33 8.0 8 2 1 4 3 125 78 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Willis W 9-4 7.1 5 1 1 1 3 79 45 3.20 Urbina H 7 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 20 12 1.31 Looper,B S 29 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 8 6 3.10 9.0 7 1 1 1 6 107 63 LA : Coomer batted for Izturis in the 8th Cora ran for Coomer in the 8th Kinkade batted for Perez,Od in the 8th Ventura batted for Kinkade in the 8th Cora moved to ss in the 8th Ventura moved to 1b in the 8th Fla: Banks moved to lf in the 9th Lee,De inserted at 1b in the 9th E-Romano. 2B-Cabrera,J(21), Romano(2). HR-Lowell(32). RBI-Romano(1), Lowell(90), Gonzalez,A(66). SB-Lowell(1). CS-Castillo,L. K-Henderson, Green, Ross,D 2, Perez,Od, Ventura, Encarnacion 2, Willis. BB-Ross,D, Rodriguez,I, Cabrera,M, Banks 2. SF-Gonzalez,A. GWRBI: Gonzalez,A Temperature: 90, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 16 MPH. Attendance: 8,766 Game Time: 2:33