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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MIAMI (AP) -- Fans who once cheered Kevin Brown jeered with
delight when he made his earliest exit in five years Monday night
against his former team.
Brown lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up nine runs, five
earned, as the Florida Marlins beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-2.
|  | | Kevin Brown, who's been bothered by irritation in a rib joint, is winless in his past four starts. |
Brown, winless in his past four starts, received a cortisone
shot in his right side Friday for irritation in a rib joint, but
the Dodgers said the injury wasn't to blame for his poor
performance.
"He told me afterward he didn't feel it at all tonight,"
trainer Stan Johnston said. Brown received no treatment after the
game, the Dodgers said.
Manager Davey Johnson said Brown (10-5) will take his next start
in the rotation as scheduled and might even be moved up a day.
Brown didn't talk to reporters. Catcher Todd Hundley said the
right-hander had good stuff, but the Marlins said he wasn't himself
on the mound.
"When you face Kevin Brown, you expect to see more," said
Henry Rodriguez, who belted run-scoring doubles in each of the
first two innings. "His pitches weren't sinking like they're used
to sinking. When he's throwing that pitch, he's unhittable."
Brown, whose salary of $15.7 million is more than the Marlins'
starting lineup makes, gave up seven hits and was hurt by sloppy
infield defense. His ERA rose from 2.47 to 2.72.
The ace of the Marlins' 1997 World Series championship team
didn't acknowledge hoots from the crowd of 8,345 as he grimly left
the game with one out in the second. It was his earliest departure
since June 22, 1995, when he lasted 1 1/3 innings for the Baltimore
Orioles against the Boston Red Sox.
"Kevin was not Kevin," said Marlins manager John Boles, who
managed Brown in the second half of the 1996 season. "This is one
of the top two or three pitchers in the National League, and he
wasn't right. We hit some balls well, but we also had some bloops
and some errors helped us. All of a sudden we had nine runs."
Rodriguez drove in four runs, including a 451-foot solo homer to
center in the sixth. The veteran outfielder, acquired from the
Chicago Cubs in a trade July 31, had only one RBI in 10 previous
games with the Marlins.
"I feel like King Kong now," joked Rodriguez, who played for
the Dodgers from 1992-95.
Jesus Sanchez (8-8) pitched six innings and allowed two runs,
both on a first-inning double by Eric Karros. Florida beat Los
Angeles for the first time in seven meetings this year.
The Marlins, who scored only four runs while being swept last
weekend by San Diego, scored four in the first off Brown.
Luis Castillo walked and Mark Kotsay singled for his first hit
in 16 lifetime at-bats against Brown. Rodriguez doubled home a run,
and another run scored when shortstop Kevin Elster bobbled Preston
Wilson's high-hopper for an error. Andy Fox's two-out, two-run
double put Florida ahead 4-2.
The Marlins added five more in the second. Sanchez singled, and
Castillo reached on a throwing error by third baseman Adrian
Beltre. Kotsay singled home a run, and Rodriguez followed with a
two-run double. Mike Lowell's RBI double to deep center knocked out
Brown.
The final run of the inning came home on a wild two-out throw by
second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, the Dodgers' third error. That
made the score 9-2.
"Brownie wasn't bad," Hundley said. "He was throwing 94-95
mph. Those guys are just that good. They weren't trying to do too
much with the ball. They were just trying to put it in play."
Florida pinch-hitter Dave Berg hit his first homer of the year
in the eighth.
Game notes
Brown's shortest outing was one-third of an inning Aug. 17,
1993, for Texas against the New York Yankees. ... Sanchez is 4-1
with a 2.45 ERA in his past eight starts. ... Marlins starters have
a 1.64 ERA in the past seven games. ... The Marlins are 9-19
against the NL West. ... Castillo was thrown out stealing with
Florida leading 9-2 in the third.
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