Newz Forum: BASEBALL: Marlins trounce Phillies 10-1, complete sweep

MIAMI (AP) - On a humid, 87-degree afternoon, the Philadelphia Phillies endured another Miami meltdown - perhaps their worst yet.

Alex Gonzalez hit the first grand slam of his career, Dontrelle Willis pitched seven innings and the Florida Marlins won 10-1 Thursday to sweep the Phillies at home for the fourth time in a row. It was the Phillies' 14th consecutive loss in Miami, including seven this year. Most of the games have been close, but this time seven consecutive Marlins scored in the third inning against Paul Abbott (1-5), capped by Gonzalez's 15th homer for an 8-0 lead.

Phillies manager Larry Bowa has called the streak "embarrassing," and left fielder Pat Burrell said it's "unbelievable." Even the Marlins - eight games below .500 against the rest of the majors - shake their heads in amazement at the way they've dominated Philadelphia.

The teams are tied for second place in the NL East, but in the past two years the rivalry has been no closer than Thursday's rout.

The Marlins are 11-1 against the Phillies this season and have won 23 of the past 26 meetings. The bad news for Philadelphia is that the teams have seven games remaining, including three in Florida in September.

Philadelphia's futility at Pro Player Stadium has become comical at times. One Marlins grounder was touched by two Phillies and still made its way to the outfield for a single. Twice, a Philadelphia batter missed on a swing that sent the bat sailing into the stands. And for the second time in the series, the Phillies let a routine fly drop for a double - with shortstop Jimmy Rollins losing Hee Seop Choi's popup in the sun.

But by then the score was already 8-1.

Willis (8-6) limited Philadelphia to five hits and one run while enjoying plenty of run support. Jeff Conine put the Marlins ahead with his eighth home run leading off the second inning, and another Miami moment for the Phillies came in the third.

Juan Pierre singled, Luis Castillo singled and Mike Lowell walked to load the bases. Miguel Cabrera doubled home two runs, Conine hit an RBI single and Choi walked to reload the bases.

Gonzalez then pulled an 0-2 pitch over the scoreboard for his 15th home run. He added an RBI double in the fifth, and by the time Mike Redmond's RBI single made it 10-1 in the fifth, every Florida starter had a hit. the fan was given the bat after Choi grounded out. ... Lowell improved his average against the Phillies this season to .426 (20-for-47) with five homers and 14 RBIs. ... Abbott fell to 16-9 in day games. He's 27-27 at night.

Wow, this is just embarassing. What's the deal here? Why can't the Phils beat Florida?

Wheres PA. Pretending it didn't happen I suppose.

hey, easy there pal...

I'm glad this was an afternoon game and I was working, I dont think my nerves could take another Phillies-Marlins game.

The Phillies need either a big trade or they havew to fire Bowa. Dont get me wrong, I like Bowa and dont place blame on him, but sometimes teams need something drastic to "wake them up." I dont want to see Bowa go so GM Ed Wade needs to make an offer and bring someone in, preferably pitching. Our pitching has absolutely killed us this year, and injuries to Wagner, Padilla, Wolf, Madson, etc sure dont help.


[Edited on 7-29-2004 by ProudAmerican]

It doesn't get any easier for the Phils coming off that 4-game sweep.

They travel to Wrigley tomorrow to face Sosa and the Cubbies with Mark Prior on the mound.

Sunday they face Greg Maddux who will be looking to win his 300th career game.


There has been concrete falling off of 90 year-old Wrigley Field and they had netting installed to protect fans. It will be inspected by city officals before tomorrows Cubs-Phils game, if it doesnt pass they wont play.

Building inspectors have given the Chicago Cubs the green light to play at Wrigley Field today.

Questions had been raised about the safety of fans after three incidents of falling concrete at the 90-year-old ballpark.

But Chicago Buildings Commissioner Stan Kaderbek says he went to Wrigley Friday morning to make sure that protective netting is in place. He says the netting is enough to keep fans safe and Friday afternoon's game against the Phillies can go on as scheduled.

sports.espn.go.com...

Another loss for the Phils, things need to change.

I wish they would go out and make a damn trade, they need something to spark them. This is getting ridiculous. Their bullpen is getting absolutely killed.

Yeah, trade for some pitching. I don't understand why we never heard rumors about the Phils trying to nab the big unit.

I'f I'm not mistaken, the Phils did show interest in Randy a while back, that is until Randy said "Yankees or no-trade".

We did get some bullpen help today but we still desperately need a starter. If they give Paul Abbott the ball again, I will believe that management is on drugs.

We got Felix Rodriquez from the Giants for Ricky Ledee and we also got Todd Jones from the Reds for Josh Hancock. Now we need a centerfielder as well since Ledee was starting there. Now we have Doug Glanville and Jason Michaels, two decent players, but neither of which do you want as your starting centerfielder on a team built to win NOW.

Originally posted by ProudAmerican
If I'm not mistaken, the Phils did show interest in Randy a while back, that is until Randy said "Yankees or no-trade".

Oh, I hadn't heard that.
I don't follow baseball close enough to know who the guys we got today are, but you're wirte up on the other thread leads me to beleive the Phils ended up probably not much better than where we started.

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!
you're wirte up on the other thread leads me to beleive the Phils ended up probably not much better than where we started.

Yes and no.

Overall talentwise, we probably aren't any better than we started.

But, we got two good relief pitchers which we desperately need and only lost minor league players and centerfielder Ricky Ledee and there are two more CF's on the roster. We got pitching for a position we had extra, so not too bad.

Once again though, we NEED a starter. Paul Abbott cannot hold the fifth spot in that rotation. It's bad enough that Millwood is struggling and Wolf and Padilla have been hurt, Eric Milton has been our only reliable starter. Getting a fifth starter wouldn't "be nice", it's a necessity!