BECKETT FANS 15 AND HOMERS AS MARLINS DUMP BUCS
Conine's 1st Marlins HR Breaks Game Open
MIAMI, Sept. 3 (AP) - Josh Beckett struck out 15 batters in eight shutout
innings to lead the Florida Marlins past the Pittsburgh Pirates at Pro Player
Stadium. Beckett is just the fifth pitcher in the major leagues this
season to reach the 15-strikeout plateau and the first since Andy Pettitte of
the New York Yankees fanned 15 Cleveland Indians on July 17. The Marlins
right-hander struck out at least one batter in every inning he worked except the
eighth when, with a pitch count rising well in excess of 120, he seemed to tire
a bit. Nonetheless, he retired the Pirates in order in the eighth inning.
The Pirates' best scoring opportunity while Beckett was still on the mound came
right out of the gate. Tike Redman led off the game with a single to left
and Jack Wilson followed by a grounding a base hit up the middle, advancing
Redman to third. But Beckett rose to the occasion, retiring Jason Kendall
on a pop fly to short and striking out Matt Stairs and Reggie Sanders to end the
inning and establish a trend. The Pirates never had another runner reach
third base until after Beckett's day was done.
Pittsburgh starter Josh Fogg matched Beckett by putting up goose eggs through
the first four innings but things fell apart for him in the bottom of the fifth,
and Beckett was a major part of the effort. After striking out Alex
Gonzalez to open the frame, Fogg fell behind Beckett 2-0 and then grooved a
fastball, which was promptly deposited into the left-center field seats, above
the scoreboard, for a home run and 1-0 Marlins lead. Fogg, apparently
rattled, then walked Juan Pierre and yielded an infield single to Luis Castillo,
putting runners on first and second. Ivan Rodriguez flied to deep center
field, with Pierre tagging and advancing to third. That brought the
recently acquired Jeff Conine to the plate and he drove a Fogg fastball into the
right field stands for an opposite field three-run home run and a 4-0 Florida
advantage.
Given the way Beckett was dealing, that four-run lead figured to hold up and it
did. The Pirates didn't advance a runner past first base until the ninth
inning, when Tommy Phelps replaced Beckett on the mound. Sanders' one-out
triple to right field gave the Pirates a runner in scoring position for the
first time since two out in the fifth. The Marlins conceded the run, which
scored when pinch hitter Jeff Reboulet grounded to short, accounting for the 4-1
final score. Phelps retired Jose Hernandez on an infield pop to end the
game.
The victory--the second in a row for the Marlins--puts Florida in a flat-footed
tie with the red hot St. Louis Cardinals for the National League's wildcard
slot, pending the outcome of the Cardinals' game with the Chicago Cubs.
St. Louis has won seven straight contests.
9/3/2003, Pit03-Fla03, Pro Player Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Pirates 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 0 6 0 2003 Marlins 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 x 4 7 0 4 0 Pirates AB R H BI AVG Marlins AB R H BI AVG Redman,T cf 4 0 1 0 .336 Pierre cf 3 1 0 0 .276 Wilson,J ss 4 0 1 0 .238 Castillo,L 2b 4 1 2 0 .309 Kendall c 4 0 1 0 .290 Phelps,T p 0 0 0 0 .267 Stairs lf 4 0 0 0 .299 Rodriguez,I c 4 0 1 0 .262 Sanders,R rf 4 1 1 0 .305 Conine lf 4 1 1 3 .250 Rivera,C 1b 1 0 0 0 .271 Encarnacion rf 4 0 1 0 .282 Reboulet ph 1 0 0 1 .225 Lee,De 1b 2 0 0 0 .270 Hernandez,J 3b 4 0 0 0 .258 Cabrera,M 3b 3 0 0 0 .287 Mackowiak 2b 2 0 0 0 .227 Gonzalez,A ss 3 0 1 0 .290 Fogg p 2 0 0 0 .184 Beckett p 2 1 1 1 .226 Nunez,A ph 1 0 0 0 .267 Mordecai 2b 0 0 0 0 .121 Beimel p 0 0 0 0 1.000 29 4 7 4 Corey p 0 0 0 0 .000 31 1 4 1 Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Fogg L 6-12 6.0 6 4 4 2 4 89 53 6.12 Beimel 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 6.34 Corey 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 9 7 6.32 8.0 7 4 4 2 5 106 64 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Beckett W 8-7 8.0 3 0 0 2 15 129 84 3.41 Phelps,T 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 10 6 4.34 9.0 4 1 1 2 15 139 90 Pit: Nunez,A batted for Fogg in the 7th Reboulet batted for Rivera,C in the 9th Fla: Mordecai inserted at 2b in the 9th 2B-Kendall(23). 3B-Sanders,R(2). HR-Conine(8), Beckett(1). RBI-Reboulet(18), Conine 3(66), Beckett(5). CS-Encarnacion. K-Wilson,J, Kendall, Stairs 3, Sanders,R 2, Rivera,C, Hernandez,J 3, Mackowiak 2, Fogg, Nunez,A, Rodriguez,I, Encarnacion, Cabrera,M, Gonzalez,A 2. BB-Rivera,C, Mackowiak, Pierre, Lee,De. SH-Beckett. HBP-Rivera,C. PB-Kendall. HB-Beckett. WP-Beckett. GWRBI: Beckett Temperature: 74, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: in from right at 7 MPH. Attendance: 18,336 Game Time: 2:27