GaryMrMets
07-27-2004, 07:23 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/9251230.htm
Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004
Rough start to road trip
By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI - Phillies pitcher Kevin Millwood can't remember the last time the Phillies beat the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium.
He's not the only one.
"I remember I won here opening day last year," Millwood said after last night's 11-3 loss to the Marlins.
For the record, the Phillies haven't won at Pro Player since April 2, 2003.
That's 11 straight games.
"That's a long time," he said. "What can you do?"
If the Marlins ever feel down - as they certainly must have after Montreal swept them over the weekend at Olympic Stadium - they only need to look at their schedule and find the Phillies.
Things always look better after that.
"We needed a win and there's no better team to do it against than the Phillies," Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett said. "I can't explain it, but I wish every team we played wore their uniform."
The Phillies opened a crucial 13-game road trip with a loss that dropped them 11/2 games behind Atlanta in the National League East.
Quick flashback: The Phillies opened a crucial 13-game road trip last season with a loss to Milwaukee.
They started that trip 1-9 and never recovered.
The Phillies know they must avoid a similar meltdown if they expect to make the postseason.
"It's common sense," Millwood said. "If you go on a long road trip and go 1-9 or 2-10 or whatever, that's just common sense. Losing the first game of this road trip, although it would have been nice to get a win in the first game, it's not the end of the world."
Millwood (8-6) allowed six runs in the first two innings as the Marlins built a 6-2 lead.
Millwood had been 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his two starts since the all-star break. He hadn't lost since June 20, and the Phillies had won in each of his previous six starts.
The Phillies, who are 1-8 against the Marlins this season, took a 1-0 lead in the first only to watch Millwood load the bases with singles to Juan Pierre, Luis Castillo and Mike Lowell. Jeff Conine, whom Randy Wolf called the "Phillies killer" last week in Philadelphia, crushed a ball to center field that hit off the wall.
It cleared the bases to make it 3-1 as Conine cruised into second with a double.
The Phillies scored a run in the second to make it 3-2, but the Marlins scored three more in the bottom of the second.
Mike Redmond hit a leadoff single and moved to second on Burnett's sacrifice bunt. Redmond scored when Pierre's grounder took a bad hop and bounced far and away from shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
Castillo's double to left-center scored Pierre.
Then Lowell hit a high fly ball to left field. It looked like a catchable ball, except Pat Burrell didn't see it.
He stared into the sky searching for the ball, but it landed behind him as Castillo scored and Lowell reached second.
After Lowell's double, Millwood didn't allow another baserunner until he walked Miguel Cabrera with one out in the fifth.
He didn't allow another hit the rest of the way.
But it was too little, too late.
Rollins hit a solo homer in the sixth to make it 6-3, but the Marlins scored twice in the seventh on Cabrera's two-run homer off Roberto Hernandez and three more in the eighth off Brian Powell.
Castillo's two-run, two-out double in the eighth sparked the crowd of just 13,507.
"We want doughnuts! We want doughnuts!" they chanted before his hit.
Marlins fans win a free dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts when the Marlins get 12 hits at home.
So much for that South Beach Diet.
The Phillies hope to fare a little better tonight. They also had 12 hits, but they left 14 runners on base.
The Marlins, who have won 20 of their last 23 against the Phillies, left just four.
There's the difference.
By the way, the Phillies finished that 13-game road trip last season on Aug. 31 tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL wild-card race.
The Phillies went 13-13 the rest of the way.
The Marlins went 18-8 on their way to the World Series championship.
"Everybody here is still really confident," Millwood said. "Nobody gave up. Our hitters. Our pitchers. We've just got to start playing better in this ballpark, and that's the bottom line."
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/inquirer/9249/85547986319.jpg
The Phillies' Kevin Milwood gets up from the ground after nearly being hit by a pitch by Florida Marlins' A.J. Burnett in the third inning.
Posted on Tue, Jul. 27, 2004
Rough start to road trip
By Todd Zolecki
Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI - Phillies pitcher Kevin Millwood can't remember the last time the Phillies beat the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium.
He's not the only one.
"I remember I won here opening day last year," Millwood said after last night's 11-3 loss to the Marlins.
For the record, the Phillies haven't won at Pro Player since April 2, 2003.
That's 11 straight games.
"That's a long time," he said. "What can you do?"
If the Marlins ever feel down - as they certainly must have after Montreal swept them over the weekend at Olympic Stadium - they only need to look at their schedule and find the Phillies.
Things always look better after that.
"We needed a win and there's no better team to do it against than the Phillies," Marlins pitcher A.J. Burnett said. "I can't explain it, but I wish every team we played wore their uniform."
The Phillies opened a crucial 13-game road trip with a loss that dropped them 11/2 games behind Atlanta in the National League East.
Quick flashback: The Phillies opened a crucial 13-game road trip last season with a loss to Milwaukee.
They started that trip 1-9 and never recovered.
The Phillies know they must avoid a similar meltdown if they expect to make the postseason.
"It's common sense," Millwood said. "If you go on a long road trip and go 1-9 or 2-10 or whatever, that's just common sense. Losing the first game of this road trip, although it would have been nice to get a win in the first game, it's not the end of the world."
Millwood (8-6) allowed six runs in the first two innings as the Marlins built a 6-2 lead.
Millwood had been 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his two starts since the all-star break. He hadn't lost since June 20, and the Phillies had won in each of his previous six starts.
The Phillies, who are 1-8 against the Marlins this season, took a 1-0 lead in the first only to watch Millwood load the bases with singles to Juan Pierre, Luis Castillo and Mike Lowell. Jeff Conine, whom Randy Wolf called the "Phillies killer" last week in Philadelphia, crushed a ball to center field that hit off the wall.
It cleared the bases to make it 3-1 as Conine cruised into second with a double.
The Phillies scored a run in the second to make it 3-2, but the Marlins scored three more in the bottom of the second.
Mike Redmond hit a leadoff single and moved to second on Burnett's sacrifice bunt. Redmond scored when Pierre's grounder took a bad hop and bounced far and away from shortstop Jimmy Rollins.
Castillo's double to left-center scored Pierre.
Then Lowell hit a high fly ball to left field. It looked like a catchable ball, except Pat Burrell didn't see it.
He stared into the sky searching for the ball, but it landed behind him as Castillo scored and Lowell reached second.
After Lowell's double, Millwood didn't allow another baserunner until he walked Miguel Cabrera with one out in the fifth.
He didn't allow another hit the rest of the way.
But it was too little, too late.
Rollins hit a solo homer in the sixth to make it 6-3, but the Marlins scored twice in the seventh on Cabrera's two-run homer off Roberto Hernandez and three more in the eighth off Brian Powell.
Castillo's two-run, two-out double in the eighth sparked the crowd of just 13,507.
"We want doughnuts! We want doughnuts!" they chanted before his hit.
Marlins fans win a free dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts when the Marlins get 12 hits at home.
So much for that South Beach Diet.
The Phillies hope to fare a little better tonight. They also had 12 hits, but they left 14 runners on base.
The Marlins, who have won 20 of their last 23 against the Phillies, left just four.
There's the difference.
By the way, the Phillies finished that 13-game road trip last season on Aug. 31 tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL wild-card race.
The Phillies went 13-13 the rest of the way.
The Marlins went 18-8 on their way to the World Series championship.
"Everybody here is still really confident," Millwood said. "Nobody gave up. Our hitters. Our pitchers. We've just got to start playing better in this ballpark, and that's the bottom line."
http://www.philly.com/images/philly/inquirer/9249/85547986319.jpg
The Phillies' Kevin Milwood gets up from the ground after nearly being hit by a pitch by Florida Marlins' A.J. Burnett in the third inning.