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Tuesday, Apr. 25 7:05pm ET
Giants outlast shorthanded Marlins | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MIAMI (AP) -- The Florida Marlins won't use it as an excuse. The San Francisco Giants won't let them, either. With eight players sitting out as part of a work stoppage by Miami's Cuban-American community, Florida and San Francisco needed 11 innings and nearly all of their players Tuesday night. Armando Rios doubled home the winning run to give the Giants their fourth straight win, 6-4 over the Marlins. "It was a tough loss," said Florida manager John Boles, whose team was without six players. "I hate to lose. These guys fought their hearts out. Those guys were spent. We had guys cramping up. We gave them everything we had. "But there's no excuses." Florida third baseman Mike Lowell, pitchers Alex Fernandez and Vladimir Nunez -- all of Cuban descent -- decided to sit out, protesting Elian Gonzalez's removal from the home of his relatives. Dominican teammates Antonio Alfonseca, Jesus Sanchez and Danny Bautista joined them in a show of support. Some San Francisco players had little sympathy for the Marlins' predicament. "It's not our fault. If you're not willing to go out there with a 25-man roster, there's nothing we can do," center fielder Marvin Benard said. Doug Mirabelli, the only Giants catcher in uniform, snapped an 0-for-18 streak with a one-out single off Dan Miceli (2-1) in the 11th. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Rios' double. Bill Mueller added a sacrifice fly. Mark Gardner (2-1) pitched the final two innings for the win. The Marlins ran out of bench options in the 11th, having to pinch hit pitcher Brad Penny, essentially giving up an out when they needed a rally. "It affected us big-time, but it affected them more," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. Baker advised right-hander Livan Hernandez and catcher Bobby Estalella not to come to the ballpark as well, fearing for the safety of their family members who live in South Florida. The Giants did just fine without them. The Marlins tied it at 4 in the ninth, scoring twice off Robb Nen. The Giants closer struggled to find the plate. He walked two, including pinch-hitter Derrek Lee to lead off the inning. "It was just a bad night," Nen said. "I got behind the first guy didn't make real good pitches after that." Lee moved to third on an infield single and an error by first baseman J.T. Snow, who bobbled Mark Kotsay's hard-hit grounder and overthrew Nenn at the bag. With runners on the corners, Mark Smith's sacrifice fly pulled Florida within one. Pinch-hitter Cliff Floyd drew a walk, and an error on third baseman Bill Mueller loaded the bases with one out. Kevin Millar followed with a sacrifice to tie the game. "I thought we were going to do it in the ninth," Boles said. "One more base hit and we go home happy." Ellis Burks gave the Giants much of their early offense. He went 2-for-5 with a homer, his third of the season. All three have come at Pro Player Stadium. Burks improved to 6-for-14 against Florida this season. The Giants took a 3-0 lead in the third inning with three unearned runs. With two outs and runners on first and second, Jeff Kent popped up to short center field. Second baseman Pablo Ozuna seemed to be under the ball, but had to lunge for it at the last second and missed. Bill Meuller scored from second, and then shortstop Alex Gonzalez dropped Ozuna's throw to second, allowing Barry Bonds to score. Burks followed with an RBI single. All three runs came against Florida starter Ryan Dempster. Burks homered to center field to lead off the sixth, giving San Francisco a 4-1 lead. The Marlins, who scored a run in the third, added a run in the sixth when Dave Berg doubled home Smith before reliever Felix Rodriguez struck out pinch-hitter Brant Brown with the bases loaded. Game notesFloyd returned to action for Florida after a three-game absence with a nagging groin injury. ... Mueller saved a run in the sixth, snaring Millar's line drive down the third-base line. ... The announced crowd of 9,072 was Florida's third-lowest at home this season. The three smallest crowds have all been against the Giants. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard San Francisco Clubhouse Florida Clubhouse RECAPS Minnesota 6 NY Yankees 1
San Francisco 6
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