Marlins Reliquish 1st Place in Loss to Pirates
Last-place Pirates are 4-0 against Marlins this year
Updated 10:00 AM EST, Sat, Jul 4, 2009
The Florida Marlins were unable to secure their grasp of first place in the National League East by losing to the last place Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night.
Hanley Ramirez, who had a ten-game RBI streak going into the game – the longest by an NL shortstop since the 1920s – failed to drive in any runs in the 7-4 loss in front of 16,114 at Land Shark Stadium. Ramirez's best opportunity came in the sixth, when he popped to short with runners on first and third and one out.
Chris Volstad (5-8) allowed four runs and three hits in three innings. He bunted into an inning-ending double play immediately following a 45-minute rain delay in the third, then was replaced by Tim Wood to start the fourth.
"I would have liked that delay to be a little shorter so I could go out there again," Volstad said. "The trend so far this year is the pitches I leave up they're hitting out."
Volstad gave up two homers to unlikely sources; Brandon Moss and Ramon Vazquez.
Moss's home run was his second of the season. Vazquez, starting a second consecutive game for injured second baseman Freddy Gonzalez, belted his first homer since July 31, 2008.
First Published: Jul 4, 2009 8:38 AM EST
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