By STEVEN WINE
updated 11:40 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2011
MIAMI - Combine the squandered chances at the plate and poor control on the mound with the misplays afield, and Jack McKeon's patience is wearing thin.
The Florida Marlins' manager blasted his last-place team after its latest loss Friday, a 5-3 defeat against Philadelphia.
The Marlins out-hit Philadelphia 9-7 but went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. McKeon's pitchers walked six and threw three wild pitches, and the team committed two errors.
"I'm getting tired of looking at this stuff," McKeon said. "We're better than that. It's time to wake up. The fans deserve better, the organization deserves better. On the other hand, maybe they can't play. Maybe they're not good enough. That's up to them. They have another 25 or 26 games to show us they can play."
The Marlins were at .500 a month ago. Since then they've lost 22 of 27 games.
"It's getting old," McKeon said. "We get a couple runs and we stop hitting. We're not getting the clutch hitting, not getting the clutch pitching. These guys have to wake up and say, 'Hey, I'm accountable.' It can't be just ride-the-waves through September. They've got to be salesmen and go out there and show what they can do. ...
"We're not running tryout camps here. Well, maybe we are."
The gap between the Marlins and NL East-leading Phillies grew to 29? games. John Mayberry drove in three runs with a homer and a sacrifice fly, and Philadelphia climbed 42 games above .500 for the first time in franchise's 129-year history.
The Phillies, whose 88-46 record is the best in the majors, were 41 games over in 1976. They reached the new pinnacle with their fifth consecutive win.
Roy Oswalt (7-8) bounced back from a defeat against the Marlins a week earlier. He allowed three runs in 6 1-3 innings while striking out seven.
"After the third inning I really felt a lot better," Oswalt said. "The first three innings I felt like I was trying to throw the ball from second base, and then after the third inning I felt like I was standing on top of the hitter."
Mayberry hit a two-run homer, his 13th, to put Philadelphia ahead to stay in the fifth inning. He added a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Shane Victorino had two hits and scored twice for the Phillies. They totaled only seven hits but won for the 22nd time in their past 27 games in Miami since September 2008.
Trailing 5-3, the Marlins had two on with one out in the seventh. Third baseman Placido Polanco made a diving stop to retire Greg Dobbs and end the threat.
"That's the play of the game," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said.
"Every time you make a play and stop the other team from scoring, it's important," Polanco said.
Three Phillies combined to pitch 2 2-3 innings of shutout relief. Ryan Madson earned his 27th save in 29 chances with a one-hit ninth.
Oswalt benefited from tactful negotiations with plate umpire Sam Holbrook. When Oswalt batted in the third inning, he told the ump he thought some of his pitches called balls were catching the corner of the strike zone.
"He said they were four inches off the plate," Oswalt said. "But later in the game, I got a few pitches there. It helps when you're pitching with the count 1-2 instead of 2-1."
Marlins rookie Brad Hand (1-5), recalled before the game from Double-A Jacksonville to make his ninth start of the year, pitched into the sixth inning and allowed four runs, three earned. Jose Lopez hit his sixth homer for Florida.
Notes: Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick was placed on paternity leave, and the team recalled RHP Michael Schwimer from Triple-A Lehigh Valley ... Philadelphia improved to 10-4 against the Marlins this season. ... This is the final weekend series for the Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. Their remaining games at the stadium are all during the week before they move into a new home next year. ... Marlins CF Bryan Petersen threw out Carlos Ruiz trying to score in the fifth. ... With one backhanded motion, 2B Infante scooped up a grounder and tossed to second to start an acrobatic double play in the eighth. ... Florida RHP Ricky Nolasco, scheduled to start Saturday, is 0-1 in two starts this year against the Phils despite allowing only two earned runs in 13 1-1 innings. ... Phillies LHP Cole Hamels, who is scheduled to start Saturday, has a career ERA of 2.71 in September, his lowest of any month.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44381541/ns/sports-baseball/
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