Marlins Fall Short Of Sweep, Lose To Dodgers 5-4
MIAMI (AP) -- Chris Coghlan came out of Wednesday's game with a sore shoulder, and the Florida Marlins could have used him in the ninth inning.
Florida squandered a late scoring chance, then gave up a 10th-inning homer by Andre Ethier and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4.
Coghlan had a three-run double in the second and leads the Marlins with 16 RBIs from the leadoff spot. But he departed in the eighth because of pain in his shoulder, which first bothered him in spring training.
"It has its good days and its bad days," he said. "I couldn't keep going. ... I plan to do treatment, keep doing what I've got to do to be able to keep going out there."
The Marlins came into the game with the NL East lead and the second-best record in the majors. But they blew a 4-0 advantage and missed a chance to complete a sweep of the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth, when Mark Guerrier (2-1) escaped a jam to keep the score 4-all.
Greg Dobbs led off with a single, and Emilio Bonifacio beat out a bunt when he tried to sacrifice. Both runners moved up on a sacrifice, but Scott Cousins struck out and John Buck grounded out.
Buck batted in Coghlan's spot.
"It's a game we should have won," Coghlan said.
Instead, the Marlins tied the franchise record for the best nine-game homestand by going 7-2.
"If we keep playing the way we've been playing -- even today's game -- chances are we're going to win a lot of ballgames," manager Edwin Rodriguez said.
Ethier extended his record hitting streak to 24 games in the fourth inning, then homered leading off the 10th against Brian Sanches (3-1).
The homer ended Sanches' streak of 13 2-3 scoreless innings to start the season. He had allowed only one hit previously this year.
"If I go down, I'm going to go down being aggressive, and I feel like I was," Sanches said. "He's a good hitter, and he's hot right now."
Ethier's single in the fourth extended his major league record for the longest April hitting streak. His batting average rose to .380.
"I'm just trying to do what the situation calls for," Ethier said.
Rod Barajas hit a three-run homer for the Dodgers.
"We got big hits all over the place," manager Don Mattingly said. "We got big outs all over the place."
Anibal Sanchez, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in his last start, held Los Angeles hitless until the fourth but gave up Barajas' homer. After throwing 74 pitches in five innings on an 86-degree afternoon, Sanchez left with a 4-3 lead.
"It was too hot out there," Rodriguez said. "He was making a lot of effort on his pitches. And the bullpen was fresh."
Florida used eight pitchers. All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez went 0 for 5, dropping his average to .197.
Chad Billingsley went six innings for Los Angeles and gave up five hits, all in the second inning, when the Marlins scored four times. They didn't get another hit until the ninth.
Vicente Padilla, who came off the disabled list Friday, pitched a perfect 10th for his first save since 2000.
Ethier singled in the fourth for the Dodgers' first hit. James Loney also singled, and Barajas hit a two-out homer. Five of Barajas' 14 hits this season have been home runs.
Pinch-hitter Juan Uribe hit an RBI double for Los Angeles in the seventh to make it 4-all.
Florida had five hits in the second inning to score all of their runs. Consecutive singles by Mike Stanton, Dobbs, Bonifacio and Brett Hayes made it 1-0. Coghlan increased the lead to 4-0 with his bases-clearing double.
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