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Willis' arm, bat propels Marlins past Rockies

Sep 15, 2007 - 5:51 AM By Derek Nagy PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

DENVER (Ticker) -- Dontrelle Willis provided a bump in the road for the Colorado Rockies' quest for the National League wild card.

Willis had an RBI triple and hurled six innings as the Marlins were able to hang on for a 7-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Matt Treanor drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning for Marlins, who won their third straight contest for the first time since August 9-11.

Willis' two-out triple in the fourth plated Mike Jacobs, who led off the frame with a walk, to tie the game at 2-2. The Marlins took the lead when Hanley Ramirez followed with an single to score Willis.

"I just want to go out there and play hard and keep the intensity up," Willis said. "I know we're not playing for anything but we actually are, we're playing for pride and try to put pressure on this team."

Willis (9-15) registered his second win since May 29, spanning 20 starts. The 25-year-old lefthander was slightly wild but effective, allowing five runs on seven hits. He walked four and struck out three and threw two wild pitches, which led to a Rockies' run in the third inning.

"It's a big victory for us and for myself, we're playing a good team," Willis said. "It's a playoff-caliber team that's been playing well so it's a big series for us to come here and try to play spoiler."

After Dan Uggla led off the seventh with a triple, Jeremy Hermida's base hit drove him in to tie the game at 5-5. Miguel Cabrera followed with another single to give Florida runners at first and second with nobody out.

Rockies reliever Matt Herges (4-1) got Josh Willingham to pop out, and he struck out Jacobs looking to set the stage for Treanor. Down 0-1 in the count, Treanor drove the next pitch into the gap in left-center, scoring Hermida from second and giving the Marlins a 6-5 lead.

"The ball came out and it was belt-high and that's not good," Herges said. "It's unacceptable. When you come in and you're winning and you leave and you're losing, that's not good."

In the eighth, the Marlins got an insurance run when Hanley Ramirez scored after Hermida hustled out a grounder that could have been an inning-ending double play.

"I knew I better get going. It was one of those things where I was fortunate enough to beat it out," Hermida said. "I knew that run was big. We had the one run and I have confidence in our guys but any time you can get that extra run late in the game is huge."

Three relievers bridged the gap to Kevin Gregg, who gave up a leadoff homer to Matt Holliday in the ninth but still managed to register his 30th save.

Troy Tulowitzki hit a two-run double and Jeff Baker hit his 10th home run this season for the Rockies (76-71), who are 3 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres (79-67) in the NL wild card.

"It's never easy when you don't put away a game like that," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.

Rockies starter Josh Fogg lasted just five innings, yielding four runs and five hits with four walks and three strikeouts. He lost his first decision since August 22 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.