MARLINS END ORTIZ'S 'W' STREAK AT 18
Fish Turn 4 DPs
MIAMI, Sept. 13 (AP) - Russ Ortiz's major league season best 18-decision win
streak came to an end today as the Florida Marlins defeated the Atlanta Braves,
6-3, at Pro Player Stadium. It was Ortiz's first loss since May 3, at the
hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks--a span of more than four months and a total
of 24 starts. The loss drops Ortiz to 21-4 on the year but the Atlanta
right-hander remains certain to finish as the National League leader in
victories.
The Braves took the lead on three straight hits in the top of the first inning,
culminating with a run-scoring single off the bat of Gary Sheffield, but the
Marlins responded with thee in the bottom half of the frame, giving them a lead
they would never surrender. Juan Pierre led off with a double to
right-center and, one out later, trotted home on Ivan Rodriguez's tenth home run
of the season. Jeff Conine followed with a solo home run over the left
field scoreboard to give Florida a 3-1 lead.
Andruw Jones' two-out solo blast--his 31st home run of the season--cleared the
center field fence to cut the deficit to 3-2 but Juan Encarnacion's lead-off
homer in the bottom of the inning restored Florida's two-run advantage.
Sheffield's solo blast in the sixth again reduced the Atlanta deficit to a
single run but with one out in the bottom half of the same frame Miguel Cabrera
was hit by a pitch and Alex Gonzalez followed with his 26th long ball of the
year, putting the Marlins on top, 6-3.
The three-run lead remained intact until the ninth. Facing reliever Braden
Looper, the Braves ultimately brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Javy
Lopez started things off with a lead-off single and, after Julio Franco popped
out, Vinny Castilla and pinch hitter Darren Bragg both walked, loading the bases
with one out. Rafael Furcal's sacrifice fly scored Lopez to make it 6-4
but Looper fanned Mike Hessman to end the game.
With Ortiz's streak at an end, the longest current consecutive wins mark in the
major leagues is held by Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees who has won 16
consecutive decisions, dating back to May 23.
The Marlins' win moves them two games ahead of St. Louis in the NL wildcard
chase, pending the outcome of the Cardinals' game at Houston.
9/13/2003, Atl03-Fla03, Pro Player Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Braves 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 7 1 7 0 2003 Marlins 3 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 x 6 7 0 5 4 Braves AB R H BI AVG Marlins AB R H BI AVG Furcal ss 2 1 0 1 .313 Pierre cf 4 1 1 0 .274 DeRosa 2b 4 0 1 0 .264 Castillo,L 2b 4 0 1 0 .317 Hessman lf 1 0 0 0 .200 Urbina p 0 0 0 0 .000 Sheffield rf 4 1 3 2 .324 Fox,A 3b 0 0 0 0 .077 Giles,M 2b 0 0 0 0 .326 Rodriguez,I c 4 1 1 2 .259 Jones,C lf 3 0 0 0 .291 Conine lf 3 1 1 1 .256 Langerhans cf 0 0 0 0 .286 Mordecai pr 0 0 0 0 .118 Jones,A cf 4 1 1 1 .282 Encarnacion rf 4 1 1 1 .277 Mercker p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hollandsworth rf 0 0 0 0 .235 Lopez,JT c 3 1 1 0 .320 Lee,De 1b 4 0 1 0 .273 Franco,Ju 1b 3 0 0 0 .320 Cabrera,M 3b 3 1 0 0 .282 Castilla 3b 3 0 0 0 .265 Looper,B p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Ortiz,Ru p 1 0 1 0 .279 Gonzalez,A ss 3 1 1 2 .291 Franco,M ph 0 0 0 0 .315 Willis p 2 0 0 0 .200 Bong p 0 0 0 0 .333 Castro,R ph 1 0 0 0 .263 Hernandez,Ro p 0 0 0 0 .000 Fox,C p 0 0 0 0 .000 King p 0 0 0 0 .000 Banks lf 0 0 0 0 .259 Hodges p 0 0 0 0 .000 32 6 7 6 Bragg ph 1 0 0 0 .269 29 4 7 4 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ortiz,Ru L 21-4 4.0 6 4 4 1 2 60 39 2.96 Bong 1.1 0 0 0 1 0 22 11 4.32 Hernandez,Ro 0.1 1 2 2 0 1 9 5 5.77 King 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 1.98 Hodges 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 19 12 6.02 Mercker 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 8 3.93 8.0 7 6 6 2 6 127 77 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Willis W 12-6 6.0 5 3 3 3 4 84 54 3.72 Fox,C H 10 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 11 6 3.47 Urbina H 11 1.0 1 0 0 2 2 31 16 1.72 Looper,B S 31 1.0 1 1 1 2 1 22 9 3.16 9.0 7 4 4 8 7 148 85 Atl: Franco,M batted for Ortiz,Ru in the 5th Bragg batted for Hodges in the 8th Hessman inserted at lf in the 8th Giles,M inserted at 2b in the 8th Langerhans inserted at cf in the 8th Bragg moved to rf in the 8th Fla: Castro,R batted for Willis in the 6th Mordecai ran for Conine in the 7th Mordecai moved to 2b in the 8th Banks inserted at lf in the 8th Fox,A inserted at 3b in the 9th Hollandsworth inserted at rf in the 9th E-DeRosa. 2B-Pierre(30). HR-Sheffield(28), Jones,A(31), Rodriguez,I(10), Conine(11), Encarnacion(17), Gonzalez,A(26). RBI-Furcal(75), Sheffield 2(97), Jones,A(107), Rodriguez,I 2(70), Conine(74), Encarnacion(84), Gonzalez,A 2(79). SB-Furcal(17), Lee,De(13). K-DeRosa 2, Jones,A 2, Franco,Ju, Castilla, Hessman, Pierre, Rodriguez,I, Encarnacion, Cabrera,M, Gonzalez,A, Castro,R. BB-Furcal 2, Jones,C, Lopez,JT, Franco,Ju, Castilla, Franco,M, Bragg, Conine, Gonzalez,A. SF-Furcal. HBP-Cabrera,M. HB-Hernandez,Ro. WP-Hodges. GWRBI: Rodriguez,I Temperature: 71, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 5 MPH. Attendance: 36,626 Game Time: 2:58