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  Friday, Sep. 22 9:05pm ET
Wilson gets 30th HR to go with 30 steals
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

DENVER (AP) -- Preston Wilson reached one milestone and hopes to avoid another.

Wilson hit his 30th home run to become the 23rd player with 30 homers and steals in a season as the Florida Marlins beat the struggling Colorado Rockies 8-4 Friday night.

But Wilson is also in reach of another record. His 181 strikeouts are within 181 eight of tying Bobby Bonds' record set in 1970.

"I don't feel I need vindication for my strikeouts," he said. "When you say vindication, I should feel sorry for striking out so this should offset it.

"I see it as I have strikeouts, had a lot of strikeouts, but I still did a lot to help my team," Wilson said. "I was still productive enough to warrant being in there to get those at-bats to get that many strikeouts."

Wilson's manager, John Boles, would rather focus on the positive milestone than the negative one.

"To be the only guy in the majors to do it this year is quite a feat," Boles said. "It's impressive because you have to want to do it. The home runs are one thing, but to steal 30 bases, that's work."

Cliff Floyd drove in two runs and Luis Castillo added two hits and an RBI as a steady rain and snow shower fell.

Brad Penny (7-7) gave up four runs and six hits in seven innings. Penny also had an RBI single and scored a run for the Marlins, who won for only the fourth time in 11 games.

Todd Helton went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for the Rockies, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.

"This was a tough night to pitch and a tough night to hit," Helton said. "I got a chill once the rain really started to come down."

Julian Tavarez (10-5), had his third consecutive poor outing, giving up six runs, nine hits and three walks in five innings.

"We can't blame the weather for all of it because they were able to play better in it," Colorado manager Buddy Bell said. "Tavarez just tried to make be too perfect and that took away his aggressiveness."

Floyd gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a one-out RBI double.

Helton hit a two-run double in the bottom half to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. Dave Berg doubled past third to score Derrek Lee in the second inning to tie the game at 2.

The Marlins took a 3-2 lead in the third on Wilson's solo homer into the Colorado bullpen in right. Castillo had an RBI single and Floyd a sacrifice fly in the fourth extended Florida's lead to 6-2.

Penny's RBI single came in the fifth and an RBI double by Mike

Lowell
and Lee's run scoring single in the sixth made it 8-2.

Game notes
Castillo's two hits gave him 177 hits this season and Florida's single-season hit record. ... Marlins OF Henry Rodriguez was originally thought to have a sinus infection, but team doctors revealed Friday that he had migraine headaches. ... RHP Reid Cornelius will spend the remainder of the season in the bullpen to give RHP Ryan Dempster two more starts. ... The Marlins renewed their contractual agreement with Triple-A affiliate Calgary. ... Soreness in his right shoulder forced OF Jeffrey Hammonds out of the Colorado lineup for a third straight game. ... Pierre has a 15-game hitting streak.
 


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