Marlins tighten race with 6-5 win
Josh Johnson allowed one hit and had a career-high 11 strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings, and the Florida Marlins tightened the NL wild-card race by beating the Colorado Rockies 6-5 Friday night.
The Marlins won for the seventh time in eight games and climbed within two games of the Rockies, who lead the wild-card race.
Johnson (12-2) had not given up a hit until Garrett Atkins homered on a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the seventh. The Marlins’ right-hander allowed three walks and one run.
Chris Iannetta hit a three-run homer in the ninth before Leo Nunez retired pinch-hitter Todd Helton on a fly ball for his 13th save in 17 chances.
The crowd of 15,965 was so small that spectators in the club seats could hear fielders calling for popups, but there were plenty of cheers for Johnson.
When Atkins’ drive cleared the left-field scoreboard for his eighth homer, the crowd responded by giving Johnson a standing ovation. He received another when he struck out Ian Stewart to end the inning, and a third when he came out of the game.
With a fastball that reached 96 mph, Johnson threw 114 pitches on an 86-degree night. The homer came on No. 98.
Dan Uggla hit his 21st homer for the Marlins, who had 10 hits, extending their streak of consecutive games with at least 10 to a club-record 11 games. The last team with a streak that long was Boston in May 2008.