3 homers, Mark Hendrickson lead Florida Marlins past slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4
By ALAN ROBINSON | Associated Press | Apr 21, 08 8:52 PM CDT in
Sports
Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham and Dan Uggla homered and Marlins pitcher Mark Hendrickson, normally one of the majors' worst hitters, had two hits while pitching eight innings of Florida's 10-4 victory over the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.
Ramirez, a .457 career hitter in PNC Park, hit a two-run homer during a four-run second inning against Matt Morris (0-3), giving him three homers in two games. Willingham added a two-run drive as Florida scored three more times in the third to make it 7-2.
Uggla hit a solo homer and had three of Florida's 11 extra-base hit. All nine Marlins starters got at least one of their 16 hits.
The Pirates, coming off a miserable road trip in which they were outscored 52-18 while losing five of six to the Dodgers and Cubs, lost their sixth in a row and gave up double-digit runs for the third consecutive game. They hadn't done that since Montreal scored a combined 35 runs against them during three games in June 1994.
Pittsburgh has given up 10 or more runs four times during its six-game losing streak, including 36 runs the last three games. They lost to the Cubs 13-1 on Saturday and 13-6 on Sunday.
Morris had yet another bad start, surrendering the Ramirez and Willingham homers while yielding eight runs and nine hits in four innings. Morris, whose $10 million-plus salary represents about one-fifth of the Pirates' payroll, has allowed 25 runs, 21 earned, in 20 2-3 innings and has a 9.15 ERA.
Hendrickson (4-1) won his fourth in a row despite giving up four runs, three earned, and eight hits, but it was his own hitting that was the surprise. The 6-foot-9 former NBA player _ an .071 career hitter coming in _ was 1-for-46 the last two seasons and 1-for-27 with the Dodgers last season. He doubled and scored in the fourth inning before hitting a run-scoring single an inning later.
Hendrickson already has three hits this season, or two more than he had in any of the previous five major league seasons in which he batted.
The Marlins, off to a surprising 12-7 start despite a $22 million payroll that is nearly $30 million less than Pittsburgh's, continued their unexpected surge of power hitting. They traded star Miguel Cabrera during the offseason, yet their 29 homers are the second most in the NL.
A favorable schedule hasn't hurt: Florida is 3-1 against Pittsburgh and 5-1 against Washington, accounting for eight of its 12 victories.
Pirates center fielder Nate McLouth extended his season-long hitting streak to 19 gams when he singled in the eighth. He has the longest streak at the start of a season since Atlanta's Edgar Renteria hit in 23 straight in 2006.
Notes:@ McLouth's streak is the Pirates' longest at any stage of a season since Jason Kendall's 20-game streak in 2004. ... The Pirates have lost nine of 13. ... The five-game season series between the two teams ends Tuesday night.
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