Brewers 10, Marlins 1
MIAMI - The Milwaukee Brewers used seven shutout innings from fill-in starter Alfredo Figaro and three triples from on offense that leads the majors in that category to defeat the Miami Marlins, 10-1, Wednesday night at Marlins Park.
The win gave the Brewers (27-38) the deciding game of the three-game series. The Brewers are off until starting a weekend set at Cincinnati on Friday. The Marlins (19-46) are off until hosting the St. Louis Cardinals for a three-game series that also starts Friday.
Figaro (1-0), making just his fourth start of the season - he has pitched in relief 16 times - allowed just three singles and no walks. Tom Gorzelanny (scoreless eighth inning) and Burke Badenhop, who allowed one run in the ninth, completed the game.
Kevin Slowey (2-6) took the loss after allowing nine hits and six runs, five of them earned, in five innings. He did not walk a batter.
Two of the triples were by center fielder Carlos Gomez, who went 4 for 5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Gomez tripled and scored in the fifth, and tripled and drove in three runs and then scored in the sixth, putting the Brewers up 10-0. His first triple was to right-center, and his second went down the right field line.
That latter hit was Gomez's eighth triple of the season. He is tied for the major-league lead in that category with teammate Jean Segura.
Catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit the Brewers' other triple of the night, driving in three runs with his first-inning three-bagger.
As a team, the Brewers lead the majors with 28 triples and have at least one three-bagger in 11 of their past 12 games.
The Brewers scored three runs in the first after loading the bases with one out on singles by Norichika Aoki and Gomez and an Aramis Ramirez hit-by-pitch. Lucroy cleared the bases with his triple, going the opposite way and finding a gap in right-center field.
On the first pitch of the third inning, Jean Segura made it 4-0 with a solo homer that cleared the fence in left-center field and was measured at 403 feet.
The Brewers cruised from there, getting a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Aoki and a run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Lucroy.
NOTES: Giancarlo Stanton's homer on Tuesday was the 97th of his young career. But it was also quite rare for the Marlins' slugger in that it was the first time one of his homers had turned a late-inning deficit - defined as anything from the eighth on - into an advantage. ... Tuesday's attendance of 13,110 was a new low for Marlins Park, which opened last year. ... When Aoki was caught looking at a strike-three pitch from Jacob Turner to lead off Tuesday's game, it snapped an impressive streak. Aoki had gone 72 plate appearances without a strikeout, the longest run by a Brewers hitter since Fernando Vina, who reached the same number in 1998. Before Turner, the last player to strike out Aoki was the Pirates' Jeff Locke, who did it on May 25. ... Marlins' RHP Ricky Nolasco is on the trading block, according to reports on ESPN.com and CBSSports.com. The Giants, Yankees and Orioles are reportedly the front-runners for Nolasco's services, and the deal could happen well before the July 31 trade deadline. Nolasco, who has been with the Marlins since 2006, could fetch a decent prospect or prospects in return. ... Marlins' third baseman Placido Polanco (back injury) may return Friday. ... Marlins' outfielder Chris Coghlan, who was put on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, may be out longer than two weeks. His injury, which at first was reported as a problem with his right calf, is now being called a lower-back strain.
