Marlins Lose Manager, Rays Game On Sunday
ST. PETERSBURG (CBS4) - Not a good day for the Florida Marlins.
Sunday morning their manager Edwin Rodriguez called it quits and Sunday afternoon they suffered another loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.
James Shields threw a four-hitter in his second consecutive complete game, Casey Kotchman had a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the Rays handed the reeling Marlins their 10th consecutive loss, 2-1.
Shields (7-4) has a major league-best five complete games this season, and was coming off a 4-0 shutout over AL East-leading Boston on Tuesday.
Matt Joyce singled to open the eighth against Ryan Webb (1-4) and went to second when the reliever threw out Evan Longoria at first after misplaying a potential double-play grounder. Kotchman then made it 2-1 with his opposite-field single down the third-base line off Randy Choate.
Marlins starter Chris Volstad is winless in 10 straight games — including six losses. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings. His last win came on April 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Gaby Sanchez put the Marlins ahead 1-0 on a first-inning sacrifice fly. Tampa Bay tied it when Ben Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly in the third.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but failed to score when Sam Fuld hit into a double play.
Shields retired 13 in a row before Omar Infante hit a one-out double in the fifth.
Rodriguez unexpectedly resigned before the game, one day after the Marlins dropped to 1-17 in June.
The club plans to begin a search for an interim manager immediately. Potential candidates include Jack McKeon, the Marlins' special assistant to the owner who led Florida to a World Series championship in 2003.
Rodriguez said it was difficult to leave, given the "positive way the organization is moving, a new ballpark next season and the young core of players."
"I can't say enough about the effort that this staff and these players have put into this season," he said. in a statement released by the team. "I could tell that they continued to give 100 percent effort each and every day on the field. I wish this organization and players nothing but success in their futures."
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