Marlins Head Home After Long Road Trip Out West
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Miami Marlins are heading home from their longest trip of the year.
While it was a tough one out West there were some of positives.
Jacob Turner is still searching for his first career road win after a 4-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Turner (0-2) dropped to 0-11 in 18 career road starts.
"All I can do is go out and give it everything I have," he said. "Wins, losses, those are things I can't control."
Buster Posey returned from a day off to hit a sacrifice fly, while Tyler Colvin and Brandon Hicks each hit RBI singles in a stretch of four straight base hits with two outs in the first against Turner.
Staked to an early lead, Ryan Vogelsong (2-2) struck out six in seven innings as the Giants concluded a season-long stretch with 17 games in as many days. San Francisco avoided its first three-game home losing streak.
"He located well, kept the ball down and mixed in his pitches," Miami's Garrett Jones said. "He never really gave in and used the corners well. We had trouble squaring him up."
Both teams ended grueling May stretches, and Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton didn't play until late.
The Marlins wrapped up their season-long 11-game road trip out West with just their third loss in the past 15 meetings at AT&T Park, where Miami has its best road record since 2011. The club heads home to put its 17-5 record at Marlins Park on the line against the Phillies.
"We had some improvement that started in L.A. We had better at-bats, things we've been doing at home," Jones said. "We had a tough time here in San Fran, but to take two here, we'll take it."
Christian Yelich's RBI groundout off Jeremy Affeldt in the eighth accounted for Miami's run. Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Sandoval connected for his third home run with two outs in the fifth, his first since April 13 against the Rockies.
A day after San Francisco was shut out 5-0 - its second shutout in five games - and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine, the Giants jumped on Turner right away.
"As a pitching staff we've had counts where we are ahead of guys but just can't finish," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "That's something you have to do to succeed in the big leagues. ... We had some opportunities to score. We came out swinging the bats all right."
The right-hander hit Gregor Blanco to begin the bottom of the first and Blanco stole second, then Posey's sacrifice fly two batters later put the Giants on the board. Eight of San Francisco's 15 runs in the series came with two outs.
Vogelsong did his part, and got some help from the defense with a double play and caught stealing.
The pitcher also had his third hit of the year with a second-inning single.
Vogelsong allowed five hits, struck out at least six for the third time in four May outings, and walked one for his second win of the season. His other victory came May 3 at Atlanta - and the right-hander stayed optimistic.
"You have to believe that you're going to turn it around and get it going," Vogelsong said. "That's what my hope was. You have to believe that. If you don't, you're behind the 8-ball to begin with. ... I've read some of the stuff he was saying about Pablo and other people and a lot of it was mental, and it's true.
"First of all, you have to stop digging a hole, to get out of it. Second of all, you have to believe that you can do it. When they believe in you, too, that goes a long way. That helps a lot."
Sandoval has raised his batting average to .220 by hitting .389 during a nine-game hitting streak.
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
RELATED CONTENT:
