By The Associated Press
Miami – Cristian Guzman had three hits and three RBIs, Hector Carrasco pitched six strong innings and the Washington Nationals beat Florida 4-0 on Monday night to put the Marlins on the brink of playoff elimination.
Florida has dropped four in a row and 10 of its past 12. Another loss, or a Houston victory, will knock the Marlins out of wild-card contention.
Carrasco (5-3), a former reliever making his fourth start this season, allowed two hits, three walks and struck out six. He has not given up a run in his past three starts, spanning 17 2/3 innings.
Jason Vargas (5-5) was the tough-luck loser. He yielded one run and five hits in seven innings.
Ryan Zimmerman’s run-scoring single and Guzman’s two-run double sparked a three-run eighth against Marlins reliever Antonio Alfonseca.
The victory snapped a three-game skid and gave Washington its second win in nine games. The Nationals moved above .500 again at 79-78.
Washington took 1-0 lead in the second. Nick Johnson led off with a triple to left, where the ball got past a diving Jeff Conine, and scored on Guzman’s two-out single.
Guzman, hitting .215 overall, is batting .338 (23-for-68) in his past 21 games.
Jason Bergmann, Joey Eischen and Gary Majewski finished the five-hitter, Washington’s ninth shutout this season.
Nationals right fielder Jose Guillen left after being hit by a pitch in the third inning. Guillen has a bruised left hand and is day to day.
Marlins left fielder Miguel Cabrera was not in the lineup because he was serving a one-game suspension for violating a team rule, while manager Jack McKeon hinted he won’t be back in 2006.
The dissension issue came to a head Sunday when right-hander A.J. Burnett said the team plays scared because Mc- Keon and the coaching staff are too negative. The rant by Burnett, a free agent this offseason, came after he lost his sixth decision in a row at Atlanta.
“We’ve all got to look in the mirror,” McKeon said before the game.
The manager declined to say whether he will scratch Burnett from his final start Friday as a disciplinary measure. But McKeon benched Cabrera for one game for an unspecified transgression.
“He’s young,” McKeon said. “You treat them like they’re your own kids, and sometimes they don’t do everything you like, like any young guy. You have to have a little chat. He’s going to be fine.”
Cabrera and Burnett declined to comment.
As for McKeon’s future beyond this week, the 74-year-old manager said he has made a decision. He said he hasn’t talked to team owner Jeffrey Loria and likely will wait until after the season to disclose his plans.
But he dropped hints, such as when he was asked what the Marlins need to improve next season.
“I’ll have to address that at the end of the season – if I care to,” he said with a coy smile.
McKeon led the Marlins to the 2003 World Series championship, and they were touted before this season as a likely playoff team.
The Marlins led the wild-card race by 1 1/2 games Sept. 14, then lost nine of their next 11 games to fall out of contention.
In the wake of Burnett’s gripes, several players complained privately about McKeon’s leadership, but none wanted to be quoted.
Others took a more neutral position regarding the pitcher’s criticism.
“That’s his way of showing his emotions,” third baseman Mike Lowell said. “The way things are going for us right now, there are not too many real good things going on in this clubhouse.”
Lowell and Conine agreed that the mood lately has been negative – but they blamed the team’s declining fortunes, rather than McKeon.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating,” Conine said. “Any time you get a collection of guys like this together and know you have what it takes to make the postseason and you don’t, it’s classified as a disappointment.”
