Marlin Push Past Phillies 5-1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Carlos Zambrano homered and pitched into the eighth inning, and Hanley Ramirez went deep, too, to lead the Miami Marlins to a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
Zambrano (4-3) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven in before leaving with two outs in the eighth to win for the seventh time in nine games.
Jose Reyes went 2 for 5 with a double and two RBIs to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Juan Pierre went 3 for 4 with an RBI for Philadelphia, which lost its second straight.
Heath Bell came on with two on and one out in the ninth and got a pair of groundouts for his 12th save in 16 chances.
In the third inning, Zambrano belted the first pitch he saw to deep left for his first homer of the season and 24th of his career to give Miami a 1-0 lead. Zambrano leads all pitchers since 1974 with 24 career home runs. A switch-hitter, Zambrano batted from the left side against Phillies starter Joe Blanton.
Ramirez led off the fourth with his third homer in two games to put the Marlins up 2-0. In his last six games, Ramirez is 12 for his last 24 with four homers and three doubles.
Miami tacked on three runs in the seventh. Zambrano reached on a perfectly placed bunt single down the third-base line, loading the bases with no outs. Reyes followed with a two-run double to right-center that gave Florida a 4-0 lead and ended the day for Blanton.
Blanton (4-6) allowed five runs on nine hits in six-plus innings. In his last four starts, the right-hander is 0-3 with a 10.98 ERA while allowing 10 homers in 19 2-3 innings.
Florida went ahead 5-0 when Zambrano scored from third on a wild pitch by right-hander Chad Qualls.
Zambrano retired 13 straight batters between the second and sixth innings, ending when Pierre doubled with one out in the sixth. Pierre reached second on a slap bunt down the left-field line that eluded charging third baseman Ramirez.
Pierre's eighth-inning two-out RBI single to center scored Brian Schneider for the Phillies' lone run.
Reyes' infield single in the fifth kept his hitting streak going. He is batting .373 (22 for 59) during it.
Shane Victorino singled in the ninth, finishing 1-for-4 and now has four hits in his last 30 at-bats over the last nine games.
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