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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MIAMI (AP) – Preston Wilson looks ready to break loose.
|  | | Alex Gonzalez , left, collides with teammate Cliff Floyd after trying to catch a pop fly; Floyd had to leave the game with a knee injury. |
Wilson hit two home runs and Jason Grilli allowed three hits in
seven innings as the Florida Marlins beat the Montreal Expos 5-1
Friday night.
"It's a very good sign when he hits the ball to right,"
Marlins manager John Boles said.
Wilson went the opposite way for a two-run homer to right-center
field off Tony Armas (0-4) in the third inning.
"Only a few (right-handed batters) can go out of the park 385
feet," Boles said. "That's a long way out there."
Wilson, who began the game with only one homer this season, had
the fourth two-homer performance of his career. In the eighth, he
added a solo homer to left.
"I have the ability to use the whole park," said Wilson, who
hit 31 home runs last year. "I have to try to use the whole
ballpark. I have the power to use the entire park."
Grilli (2-1) limited the Expos to one hit through six innings,
giving up a single to Armas in the third.
Grilli's only rough inning was the seventh. Fernando Tatis
homered with one out to make it 3-1 and Lee Stevens followed with a
double.
But Grilli worked out of the jam by getting Jose Vidro to line
out and Milton Bradley to ground out.
"I wouldn't say this was my sharpest performance," said
Grilli, who struck out one and walked two. "I tried to utilize my
defense and they were phenomenal."
The Expos hit into three double plays, including one to end the
game with runners on first and second.
"We hit too many fly balls," Expos manager Felipe Alou said.
"We're not swinging the bat well. But the hits will come."
Grilli gave Florida a 1-0 lead with a two-out single in the
second that scored Mike Lowell, who had doubled. Grilli's hit came
after the Expos intentionally walked Alex Gonzalez. Charles Johnson
added an RBI single in the eighth.
Florida's defense turned several key plays.
In the fourth, right fielder Eric Owens robbed Vidro of an
extra-base hit with a diving, backhanded catch in the gap. The
Marlins' infield turned double plays to end the first two innings.
"(Grilli) has a good sinking fastball, a good curveball and
changeup," Alou said. "It looks like he swings the bat pretty
well."
Game notes
Floyd left the game with two outs in the sixth with a
contusion of his left knee after colliding with shortstop Alex
Gonzalez on a fly to left. Floyd could be back Saturday. ... Grilli
hit a solo home run against Montreal on April 15. ... Sharon
Robinson, daughter of Jackie Robinson, took part in the ceremonial
first-pitch festivities as part of the "Breaking Barriers"
multi-curricular educational program. ... Montreal star RF Vladimir
Guerrero, hit by a pitch in the hand Wednesday, did not play for
the second straight game. Alou said he should play Saturday. ...
Expos pitcher Javier Vazquez is day-to-day with a mild right ankle
sprain sustained Wednesday in New York. ... Marlins pitcher A.J.
Burnett, out with a stress fracture in his right foot, will begin
his rehab assignment on Tuesday with Class A Brevard County.
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Cleveland 5
Detroit 4
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Minnesota 4
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