Hanley Yanked as D-Backs Drop Marlins

Ramirez's "effort wasn't there" in 5-1 loss

Some said Edwin Jackson was effectively wild. Others said the Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander was dominating.

However they wanted to describe Jackson's outing, it was definitely something they've been waiting for from the former All-Star. Jackson struck out a career-high 12 in eight shutout innings to lead the Diamondbacks to a 5-1 victory over the Florida Marlins on Monday night.

"He did a good job of mixing it up," Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan said. "His slider got better as the game went on. You got a guy going low-90s, his slider was working well. I think he was a little erratic in the beginning of the game and sometimes we were helping him out. Toward the end, he was throwing everything for strikes."

Stephen Drew, John Hester, and Conor Jackson each drove in a run for the Diamondbacks, who won for just the second time in 10 games.

Jackson (2-5), who went 13-9 with Detroit last season and earned a spot on the All-Star team, came in struggling with a 7.43 ERA and was facing a team that he was 0-3 with an ERA over 11 against in four career appearances.

Manuel Gonzalez became the first Venezuelan umpire in major league baseball history, working at third base. Gonzalez, 30, was filling in for John Hirschbeck, who was dealing with a personal matter.

Jackson picked up his first win since April 11, his second start of the season. He allowed four hits and walked two batters while throwing 76 of his 114 pitches for strikes.

"I was kind of effectively wild. That's probably the best way to put it," Jackson said.

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch saw it differently.   

"It was a pretty dominating performance," he said. "His approach has always been there, but tonight he stayed within himself and went with what was working."

Jackson was effective early, striking out the side in the fourth and holding the Marlins without a hit until Cody Ross opened the fifth with a single. He struck out the side again in the seventh.

"My fastball was erratic, but I was able to throw strikes and that's the bottom line," Jackson said.

The Marlins, coming off a four-game sweep of the New York Mets, recorded just six hits in their second loss in eight games. Starter Chris Volstad (3-4) took the loss, allowing four runs -- two earned -- and seven hits in five innings.

"He got ahead of the hitters, but just couldn't put hitters away," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Drew's RBI single in the first inning gave the Diamondbacks the early lead.

In the second, Arizona stretched their lead as Andy LaRoche singled and Chris Young walked to lead off the inning. Tony Abreu followed with a soft line drive to short left field. Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez made an effort on the ball, which dropped in front of him as he raced back toward short left before accidentally kicking the ball 100 feet away from him and allowing LaRoche and Young to score on the error. While Ramirez jogged to the ball, Abreu reached third base on the play and scored on a single by Hester to make it 4-0.

Ramirez came out of the game the next inning due to a lack of effort, according to Gonzalez.

Ramirez fouled a pitch off his left shin in the first. After a brief delay, he stayed in the game before bouncing into an inning-ending double play. He was eventually replaced by Brian Barden.

"Hanley left the game because we felt -- he got smoked in the ankle -- but we felt whether he was hurt or not hurt or whatever it was, we felt that the effort wasn't there that we wanted," Gonzalez said. "There are some injuries there, but we expect an effort from 25 guys on this team and when that doesn't happen, we have got to do something."

Gonzalez was unsure if Ramirez would be back in the starting lineup on Tuesday. Ramirez did not speak with reporters after the game.

The Diamondbacks added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Conor Jackson scoring Hester, who doubled off Chris Leroux to lead off the inning.

Aaron Heilman relieved Jackson in the ninth and allowed an RBI single to Ross with two outs before striking out Ronny Paulino to end the game.

Drew was hurt by two great defensive plays by the Marlins outfield. Center fielder Cameron Maybin, who threw out Drew in the first while trying to stretch a single into a double, robbed Drew of an extra-base hit in the third as he made a diving catch on the warning track. In the fifth, Ross made a diving grab near the right-field line.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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