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The Florida Marlins
look to World Series MVP Josh Beckett to get their pitching staff back on track
when they begin a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Florida's run to the World Series championship last year was fueled by its pitching,
and the Marlins began this season with 15 wins in their first 22 games because
of strong performances on the mound.
The Marlins, however, are coming off a four-game series with the San Francisco Giants where they allowed 27 runs in dropping the last three of the set.
``It's real frustrating,'' Marlins reliever Matt Perisho said. ``We've been in a lot of tight ballgames and come out ahead in most of them, but not here. We haven't been able to hold leads like we need to.''
Beckett, who went 2-2 with a 2.11 ERA in the playoffs last season, gave up one earned run over 14 innings in his first two starts of this year, but then allowed 10 runs over 11 1-3 innings in consecutive losses to the Atlanta Braves.
The right-hander rebounded from those poor outings to allow four runs over seven
innings in a 9-4 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Wednesday.
``You can't get by on anything you did last year or what you did last week,'' Marlins manager Jack McKeon said of Beckett. ``You've got to do it on a consistent basis. When the bell rings, this guy's tough.''
Beckett will be facing a Los Angeles club that took two of three from the Montreal Expos at home over the weekend, but is still unhappy as it begins a six-game road trip.
The Dodgers won the first two games of the series with Montreal, but blew an opportunity for the sweep on Sunday.
Los Angeles trailed 3-2 in the seventh inning before loading the bases with no outs when Alex Cora singled, pinch-hitter Jason Grabowski walked and Dave Roberts bunted for a hit.
But Cesar Izturis and Adrian Beltre both popped out and Shawn Green flied out to right to end the threat as Los Angeles went on to lose 6-4 to the team with the worst record in the majors.
``It was a perfect
spot for us, with the 2-3-4 guys coming up,'' Los Angeles first baseman Robin
Ventura said. ``You wish you could have gotten more out of it, but they worked
out of it.''
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