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Friday, Apr. 14 3:20pm ET
Cubs cut down by Marlins' Fernandez | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Alex Fernandez doesn't know his own arm strength. Fernandez, who missed all of 1998 following rotator cuff surgery, overcame a shaky first inning Friday to lead the Florida Marlins to a 9-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs. "The last couple starts, I can really see his arm strength grow," Marlins catcher Mike Redmond said. "He doesn't know what to do with it yet." Danny Bautista hit a three-run homer and Alex Gonzalez added a two-run shot for the Marlins. Sammy Sosa hit a solo homer for the Cubs, who were coming off a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Sosa now has two hits in 19 career at-bats against Fernandez and both are home runs. "Hopefully, next time he pitches I'll get a couple more hits," Sosa said. "I've got to give him credit. He pitched a great game. He came back and stopped us." Florida manager John Boles was concerned about Sosa finding his home run swing against the Marlins. "The one thing you know is that he's going to heat up and you worry that it's going to be soon," Boles said. "I start developing little idiosyncrasies and twitches when he comes up." Boles could relax watching Fernandez (2-1), who gave up four runs, eight hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out three. "The difference for Alex this year is that he can throw the fastball by people," Boles said. "He's got to get accustomed to his new arm strength." Andrew Lorraine (1-1) gave up five runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. Lorraine struck out a career-high eight batters. "I'd trade those strikeouts anytime for a win," Lorraine said. After Gonzalez gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead in the first inning with his first homer of the year, Lorraine retired 17 of the next 19 batters he faced. Mark Grace tied the game at 2 with a two-run double in the bottom of the first and he scored one out later on Damon Buford's single. Sosa hit his third homer with two outs in the fifth, launching the first pitch from Fernandez into the left-field bleachers to put the Cubs ahead 4-2. "I don't care. It was a solo homer," Fernandez said. "He did what he was supposed to do with it." The Marlins rallied for four runs with two outs in the sixth. Preston Wilson started it with a single on an 0-2 pitch, moved to second on Mike Lowell's walk and scored on Kevin Millar's single. Brian Williams relieved Lorraine and gave up Bautista's second home run to put Florida up 6-4. "There's no reason in my mind to lose a guy 0-2," Lorraine said. "I should've been able to put him away there and not give up the hit. To me, that was the biggest at-bat." Wilson added an RBI single in the seventh off rookie Ruben Quevado, who was making his major league debut. Lowell added an RBI groundout in the seventh and an RBI double in the ninth. Game notesLorraine's previous career-high strikeout total was six, accomplished twice before, most recently Sept. 26, 1999, against Philadelphia. ... Florida's Cliff Floyd left the game in the seventh inning when he was hit on the right arm by Williams. Floyd's status is day-to-day. ... Cubs right-hander Kerry Wood, who is coming back from elbow surgery, will make his second injury rehab start for Class A Daytona on Tuesday. Wood threw 90 pitches over five innings Thursday for Daytona. He struck out nine, including the last six batters he faced. ... The Marlins outrighted catcher Sandy Martinez to Triple-A Calgary. ... Former Cub Andre Dawson and newly elected Hall of Famer Tony Perez were guest singers for the seventh-inning stretch. Both are assistants to Florida general manager Dave Dombrowski. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Florida Clubhouse Chicago Cubs Clubhouse RECAPS Texas 7 Cleveland 2
Florida 9
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