NL East Wrap: Verlander stifles Mets; Marlins win

Thursday, June 30, 2011
Posted: 9:47 p.m.

The Associated Press
Tigers 5, Mets 2

BOX SCORE

DETROIT -- By Justin Verlander's lofty standards, this was a so-so performance.

It was more than enough to boost a battered Detroit pitching staff.

Verlander pitched seven solid innings Thursday to lead the Tigers to a 5-2 win over the big-hitting New York Mets. Detroit had allowed 30 runs in the first two games of the series, but Verlander finished a terrific June by holding New York at bay, preventing a sweep.

"Each day is a new day in baseball, and that's the beautiful thing about this. They go out and score however many runs in two days with a bunch of hits, but you turn the page," Verlander said. "You've got to know as a starting pitcher, no matter what they've done before, if you make your pitches and execute, good pitching beats good hitting."

The Mets had scored a team-record 52 runs in their previous four games. Verlander (11-3) held them to one run and seven hits. He finished June with a 6-0 record and a 0.92 ERA, and tied CC Sabathia for the major league lead in wins this season.

Verlander has won his last seven starts, allowing two or fewer runs in each.

"He's awesome," Mets star Jose Reyes said. "We had him in trouble a couple times, but he always makes a pitch to get out of it. That's why he is one of the best in the game."

Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran homered for New York's only runs. Andy Dirks hit a solo shot for the Tigers.

Mike Pelfrey (4-7) allowed four earned runs in 4 2-3 innings for the Mets, who start a three-game home series against the Yankees on Friday night.

Detroit needed a good start from Verlander after losing 16-9 the previous night and 14-3 on Tuesday. Every Tiger that pitched Wednesday gave up at least one run -- except utilityman Don Kelly, who took the mound during the ninth that night in an amusing scene.

Verlander was up to the task. He threw 120 pitches, striking out six and walking two. It wasn't his most dominating effort, but it came at an important time.

"I didn't pitch well, I battled well," Verlander said. "That's something I pride myself on. I've been on a pretty good run here, had pretty doggone good stuff for a period of time here. You've got to know that that's not going to last an entire season."

Marlins 5, Athletics 4

BOX SCORE

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Chris Volstad helped the Florida Marlins end a miserable month on an upswing.

Volstad allowed one unearned run in seven innings and John Buck hit a two-run double to help the Florida cap June by beating the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Thursday for their first back-to-back wins in more than a month.

"It was a rough one," Volstad said. "Hopefully this is a step forward and we can keep building off of this and go into Texas and keep playing the way we played these last two games."

The Marlins had won just three of their first 26 games in June before the strong starts by Ricky Nolasco and Volstad (4-7) gave them their first consecutive victories and first series win since sweeping the Giants across the bay in San Francisco on May 24-26.

Nothing went right for the Marlins in between their two trips to the Bay Area as they fell from second place to last, fired hitting coach John Mallee, had manager Edwin Rodriguez resign and had lost 14 straight losses in one-run games before this victory.

That turned around for Jack McKeon's team during the three games against the offensively challenged Athletics, who did not score an earned run off a Florida starter all series.

"There's a little momentum," McKeon said. "They have a good feeling about themselves. All we need to do is win three or four in a row and who knows, maybe it will snowball."

Oakland traded its longest tenured player before the game, dealing second baseman Mark Ellis to Colorado for two minor leaguers. Ellis had been the only player on the 25-man roster remaining from Oakland's division-winning teams last decade, but general manager Billy Beane felt he was expendable because of the emergence of rookie Jemile Weeks.

"It was a difficult day for everybody," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "He's a guy everybody respects. I'm glad Billy sent him to a team who might be playing for something. It would have been hard getting him at-bats here. Billy wasn't necessarily looking for the best deal. He was looking for a good landing spot for Mark."

Volstad allowed seven hits and an unearned run after an error by third baseman Jose Lopez in the seventh inning to win his second straight start after a career-long six-game losing streak.

Coco Crisp added a solo homer off Edward Mujica in the eighth inning and Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run shot off Leo Nunez in the ninth to give the A's their first multihomer game since May 24 against Anaheim. Nunez recovered for his 22nd save in 25 chances.
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