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Burnett tosses complete game as Marlins rout Phillies

MIAMI -- The Florida Marlins continue to have Randy
Wolf's number.

A.J. Burnett tossed the Marlins' third complete game of the
season and Mike Lowell and Paul Lo Duca hit two-run homers as
Florida posted an 8-2 triumph over the Philadelphia Phillies.

"A.J. pitched a heck of a game, probably the best game I've seen
him pitch since I've been here," Marlins manager Jack McKeon
said. "He stayed in front of those hitters. He kept himself
under control even when he got in trouble. He did a phenomenal
job."

Burnett (1-1) allowed eight hits without a walk and struck out
three. The 28-year-old righthander threw 103 pitches - 71 for
strikes - and never faced a 2-0 count in recording his 11th
career complete game.

"That's different, but I'll take it," said Burnett, who is known
for running deep counts. "I always knew I could (pitch a
complete g ame), it's just been a pitch count issue in the
past."

"He was throwing in the high 90s in the ninth inning," Phillies
manager Charlie Manuel said. "That was impressive to me. That's
what you call a lot of talent."

The Marlins, who got shutouts from Dontrelle Willis and Josh
Beckett in the season's opening week, held down a Phillies'
offense that had scored 27 runs over their past three games.

"In today's game, yeah, it's unusual," McKeon said of the three
complete games in five days.

Wolf (0-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings. With
the loss, the 28-year-old lefthander fell to 2-11 with a 5.86
ERA lifetime against Florida. Wolf is 0-4 in his last five
starts against the Marlins and has not defeated them since April
2, 2003.

"I'm confident one day it will turn my way," Wolf said. "It has
more to do with me than it does them. I'm beating myself. If I
make good pitches, we win."

The Marlins' starting positional players entered the game with a
.345 (58-for-168) batting average against Wolf and continued to
swing the bat well against him.

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Lowell followed a walk to Miguel
Cabrera with a game-tying home run to left field, his second of
the season.

"It was a changeup," Lowell said. "I just think he was ticked
off, not so much by the pitch, but by the location. He left it
up a little higher than he wanted to. I actually think he
pitched much better than his stats show. He had good life on
his fastball, he was throwing a good cutter, he was dominating
us for a while."

Cabrera plated a run with a groundout in the fifth and the
Marlins tallied two more times the following inning when Lo Duca
followed a walk to Lowell with his first homer of the season.

This home run had a little more significance to Lo Duca, as it
came on his 33rd birthday.

"I don't remember (ever hitting a homer on my birthday)," Lo
Duca said. "It's special. It's a good birthday."

The Marlins tallied insurance runs on a solo homer by Cabrera in
the seventh and a two-run triple by Juan Pierre an inning
later.

Florida has outscored the opposition, 34-2, in its four wins,
while notching only six runs in its four losses.

"It's always important to get run support," McKeon said. "When
Lowell hit the home run, you kind of felt like we were going to
win."

Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu added a pair of hits apiece for the
Phillies, who lost for the first time in four games.

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