NEW YORK, 17 April 2004 — Carl Pavano and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout as the Florida Marlins blanked the Montreal Expos for the third straight game with a 3-0 victory in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Thursday.
The defending World Series champions improved to 8-1 with the win while stretching their scoreless innings streak to 30, a new team record.
Montreal’s scoreless streak hit a team-record 33 innings as the Expos became the first team to be shutout in a three-game series since the Detroit Tigers were blanked all three games by the Baltimore Orioles in 1995. Pavano (1-0) pitched seven innings and allowed the three hits with three strikeouts and one walk against his former team.
Chad Fox pitched the eighth and Armando Benitez the ninth to complete the three-hitter for the Marlins, who are 5-1 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium since last year.
The Expos won just one game in their six-game “homestand” in Puerto Rico and slipped to 2-7 to start the season overall.
Hee Seop Choi hit a two-run homer to key a three-run fourth inning that gave the Marlins all the offense they would need.
Mike Lowell drove in the other Florida run with a sacrifice fly while Miguel Cabrera added a pair of hits for the Marlins.
In other play, Mike Lieberthal hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, powering the Philadelphia Phillies past the Cincinnati Reds 6-4. Philadelphia snapped a five-game losing streak with the win. Rheal Cormier (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the victory and Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his second save. Juan Castro drove in two runs for the Reds, who blew a 4-0 lead.
In Chicago, Michael Barrett hit a pair of home runs for the first time in his career, leading the Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-5. Chicago had 12 hits, including home runs by Aramis Ramirez for the second straight day and Moises Alou. Carlos Zambrano (1-0) allowed one run on six hits over six innings to pick up the win. Jack Wilson and Humberto Cota homered in the ninth inning for the Pirates.
In New York, Al Leiter pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings as the Mets blanked the Atlanta Braves 4-0. Leiter (1-0) allowed just three hits while striking out two and walking three before three relievers finished up the four-hitter. Shane Spencer drove in a pair of runs for the Mets. Ben Sheets pitched five solid innings before leaving with a stiff back to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros. Sheets (2-0) allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
In San Diego, Juan Encarnacion had three hits and drove in two runs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Padres 7-5. Milton Bradley added two hits, scored two runs and drove in another two for the Dodgers. Hideo Nomo got the win while Eric Gagne picked up the save.
Halladay Blanks Tigers for First Win of Season
In New York, AL Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay picked up his first win of the season with a complete game eight-hitter as the Toronto Blue Jays routed the Tigers 11-0 in Detroit on Thursday.
Halladay (1-2) struck out five and walked one in posting his sixth career shutout, four of them coming at the expense of the Tigers. After also starting last season 1-2, Halladay went on to post a 22-7 record and earn his first AL Cy Young Award.
The Tigers handed Halladay an opening day loss this season, but there was never any danger of the right-hander losing this game as he posted his third shutout over the Tigers since September 6 in a dominating performance. Despite the loss, the Tigers are 6-3 to start the season one year after losing an AL record 119 games.
In other games, Magglio Ordonez homered with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.
The win completed a three-game sweep of the Royals for the White Sox, the last two coming in the final at-bat.
Frank Thomas and Aaron Rowland both homered for the White Sox. Chicago scored 28 runs in the three-game series.
In Arlington, Kenny Rogers pitched seven solid innings to lead the Texas Rangers past the Oakland Athletics 7-2. Rogers (2-0) allowed one unearned run on five hits for his 38th win at The Ballpark at Arlington, the most by any pitcher.
In Cleveland, Brad Radke tossed eight shutout innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 3-0 win over the Indians. Radke (2-0) allowed four singles and had five strikeouts and one walk to get the win. Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his first major league save since 1999. Corey Koskie and Jacque Jones hit homers for the Twins. Jason Stanford (0-1) took the loss.
