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  Wednesday, Jul. 19 7:05pm ET
Marlins, Braves to play two Thursday
 
  GAME UPDATE | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

MIAMI (AP) -- The Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves played for almost two hours Wednesday, then watched a rainstorm wash out their efforts.

Eighteen hits, including a home run by Mike Lowell, and a 6-6 tie were erased by the rain. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Thursday beginning at 4:05 p.m. ET -- weather permitting. Game 2 is 30 minutes after the finish of the first game.

Andy Ashby
Andy Ashby, left, hands the ball to manager Bobby Cox, who was managing his first game -- it didn't count -- after serving a five-game suspension.

"A double headache, that's what we call it," Braves pitcher John Burkett said.

Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood will pitch for Atlanta. Ryan Dempster will pitch the opener for Florida, and A.J. Burnett, sidelined all season by a thumb injury, will be activated from the disabled list to start the nightcap.

The doubleheader will be the Marlins' first this season.

"I hate them almost as much as I hate rain delays," manager John Boles said. "We would have stayed here all night to play this game, but it looked like that was what it was going to take."

Florida's Ricky Bones took a two-run lead into the fifth but couldn't get the three outs needed to make the game official. Atlanta's Rafael Furcal hit a tying, two-run double on the final pitch before rain halted play with none out in the inning.

The game was called following a delay of 2 hours, 14 minutes, with rain still falling hard.

"It's just impossible here with the weather," Boles said.

Because of frequent summer showers in South Florida, the Marlins have been seeking taxpayer money to help build a stadium with a retractable roof.

Reggie Sanders doubled to start the Braves' fifth-inning rally, and Walt Weiss walked. With light rain falling, Bones fielded a bunt and threw wildly to third, loading the bases. The rain became torrential as Furcal hit a ground-rule double to tie the score.

Neither starting pitcher made it out of the fourth inning. Atlanta's Andy Ashby allowed nine hits and six runs in three-plus innings, and Brad Penny gave up seven hits, six walks and four runs -- three earned -- in 3 1/3 innings.

Penny complained afterward of soreness in his pitching shoulder and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. He'll undergo an MRI Thursday.

Atlanta manager Bobby Cox was back in the dugout following a five-game suspension for making contact with umpire Derryl Cousins.

The crowd booed loudly when Cox came out of the dugout to change pitchers in the fourth inning. Fans were unhappy that Cox failed to select Marlins closer Antonio Alfonseca or second baseman Luis Castillo for the NL All-Star team.

"I feel bad for those guys," Cox said. "If the fans knew how bad I felt, they wouldn't boo me."

Six singles produced four Florida runs in the second. Alex Gonzalez, Paul Bako and Penny hit consecutive RBI singles, and Mark Kotsay's two-out single brought home another run for a 4-1 Florida lead.

Furcal led off the game with a single but was out trying to score on Andruw Jones' double. Catcher Bako knocked Furcal down tagging him in the face, but the Braves didn't complain.

"It was just an accident," Furcal said. "I feel fine. No problem."

Chipper Jones then hit an RBI double to put them ahead.

The Braves scored twice in the third. Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan singled, and both came home when right fielder Kotsay misplayed Javy Lopez's single for an error.

Penny left the game in the fourth after walking Andres Galarraga to force in a run. Ricky Bones then got Lopez to hit into an inning-ending double play, preserving a 5-4 Florida lead.

The Marlins' Cliff Floyd hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Game notes
The rainout cost Preston Wilson his 20th stolen base. He still needs one to become just the second Marlins player to steal 20 bases and hit 20 homers in a season. ... Marlins catcher Mike Redmond gets another crack at Glavine on Thursday. Redmond is hitting .733 (11-for-15) lifetime against Glavine. ... Castillo is batting .188 (9-for-48) with runners in scoring position. ... Ashby had won three consecutive starts.
 


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