Marlins' Furcal Out Again With Injury
MIAMI (AP) — Rafael Furcal had to wait more than two months to make his season debut with the Miami Marlins. Now another injury is expected to keep him out again.
Furcal, a 36-year old three-time All-Star, injured his calf and hamstring while running to first base in the third inning of the Miami Marlins' 4-0 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday.
Furcal was running out a grounder, and was then removed from the game.
"It definitely doesn't sound good," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond, who expects Furcal to go back on the disabled list.
Furcal, who was scheduled to have an MRI exam, is hitting .171 in nine games.
"He had a long road all the way back, and then it's unfortunate he got hurt again," Marlins first baseman Garrett Jones said. "Hopefully, he can come back and help us win here soon."
Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria was scratched from the starting lineup before the game because of soreness in his elbow, but he might play on Sunday.
"He was available if we needed him to hit," Redmond said. "I think the throwing was the biggest concern for him today, but I'm anticipating him being ready for (Sunday), but we'll see."
It took eight starts, but Jacob deGrom earned his first major league win with a seven-inning effort.
"To have a performance like that and get the win feels good," said deGrom, an Ormand Beach native. "I have a lot of people here from the Daytona area, which is only about four hours away, and my whole family is here."
DeGrom (1-4) struck out seven and allowed five hits and three walks.
"He had all his pitches working, and he was throwing them all for strikes at any count," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "It's a lot of fun to play defense behind him because he works so quickly and effectively."
Lucas Duda hit a two-run home run, his 10th, and Wright had three hits and an RBI for New York, which has won three of four.
It was the second shutout in the series for the Mets as Zack Wheeler tossed a 1-0 complete game on Thursday.
"Right now we're in a little bit of a spell where we're not able to get the consecutive hits and get a little bit of a rally going, but we will," Redmond said.
Jeurys Familia pitched the eighth, and Jenrry Mejia came in for the ninth to preserve the shutout.
Marlins starter Tom Koehler (5-6) retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing two runs and four hits in seven innings. He struck out eight.
"It was nice to get through seven and get out of the jam in the sixth, but at the same time it's a little frustrating giving up those two runs and not really getting those bunts down — that's really kind of eating at me right now," Koehler said.
Chris Young hit a two-out single in the fourth to give the Mets a 1-0 lead, and Wright singled home a run in the sixth for a two-run advantage.
Miami's best opportunity to score came in the sixth after Giancarlo Stanton stole third base with one out, but deGrom retired the next two batters to end the threat.
"He made some real, real good pitches with his slider, and he used his change-up to right handers effectively," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He certainly deserved to win."
Duda's home run to right field came off Chris Hatcher in the ninth inning to give the Mets a 4-0 cushion.
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