Reynolds' homer lifts Arizona past Marlins 4-3
Posted May 21, 2009 10:05 PM
By STEVEN WINE
(AP)
MIAMI -Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning Thursday, and the Arizona Diamondbacks took advantage of the Florida Marlins' weary bullpen to rally for a 4-3 victory.
Reynolds' home run came off Cristhian Martinez, making his major league debut. Florida's relief corps was spent after a doubleheader split Wednesday, capped by Arizona's victory in a 13-inning nightcap that ended at 1:48 a.m.
In the wake of that marathon, Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez declared all of his veteran relievers unavailable Thursday.
Arizona managed only two runs in seven innings against Andrew Miller, then rallied. Martinez (0-1), summoned before the game from Double-A Jacksonville, retired the first two batters in the eighth and had an 0-2 count on Justin Upton but walked him. Reynolds hit the next pitch for his 12th homer and a 4-3 lead.
The Diamondbacks' Clay Zavada (1-0) also made his major league debut and pitched a perfect seventh. Tony Pena pitched around a double by Hanley Ramirez in the eighth, and Chad Qualls struck out the side in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Arizona won three of four games in the series after going 1-5 in Miami last year, but the success was bittersweet. Manager A.J. Hinch said the Diamondbacks played with "heavy hearts" after pitcher Scott Schoeneweis' wife was found dead Wednesday at the couple's home in suburban Phoenix.
Florida lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Chris Snyder hit his fourth homer for Arizona. Dan Uggla homered for the third game in a row for the Marlins.
Max Scherzer struck out 10 in six innings for the Diamondbacks but allowed three runs.
The Marlins scored in the first on Jorge Cantu's two-out RBI single. They made it 2-0 in the second when Cody Ross singled and later came home from third on Emilio Bonifacio's two-out infield hit.
Miller limited the Diamondbacks to one hit until Ryan Roberts doubled in the sixth. He scored on Reynolds' two-out single.
Uggla hit his seventh homer with two out in the sixth.
Notes:@ Ross left the game in the sixth inning with a migraine headache. He went 1 for 2, hiking his lifetime average against Arizona to .345. ... Miller tied career highs by pitching seven innings and striking out nine. He had nine strikeouts against the same team on the same week last year — May 22, 2008. ... Scherzer struck out the side in the fourth, and Miller did the same in the top of the fifth. ... Arizona RHP Billy Buckner's start Friday at Oakland will be his first in the majors since Sept. 27, 2007, for Kansas City.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
2009-05-21 22:04:59
