Wes Helms News

The Giants infielder headed into Wednesday night two percentage points ahead of Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino in the "Final Vote" promotion for a berth on the NL squad, according to Major League Baseball.

Barry Zito pitched into the ninth in his best start of the season, Juan Uribe hit a two-run homer and the San Francisco Giants won their fourth straight at home against Florida with a 3-0 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday night.

Ricky Nolasco just needed to cool down - literally. Nolasco described the first inning this afternoon, in which the first two Pirates batters reached base, "definitely the toughest first inning of my life." The culprit: Heat.

The first two hits he allowed didn't leave the infield. The next one was a fourth-inning, broken-bat number that plopped into short right.

The issue of broken bats and whether maple is more brittle than ash usually raises outrage in a big-league clubhouse to the level of a shoulder shrug.

Ricky Nolasco threw eight solid innings and the Marlins put together a late rally against the Washington bullpen to beat the Nationals, 4-2, on Monday night.

It would've been very easy for the Marlins to be pretty much out of the race in the National League East at this time.

Hanley Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games, pinch-hitter Wes Helms beat out a potential double-play ball to put Florida ahead in the eighth inning and the Marlins remained unbeaten against the Washington Nationals this year with a 5-3 Wednesday.

Hanley Ramirez had three hits and an RBI for Florida, which snapped a three-game slide and is 7-0 against Washington this season.

Even though they were spanked by the Tampa Bay Rays, the Marlins closed out their interleague schedule Sunday knowing it could have been a lot worse.

With the Phillies' win, the Marlins moved to three games back in the National League East.

The enthusiasm of getting the cleanup hitter back in the lineup was tempered by losing the ace in the second inning.

Maybe if the Marlins had not spent two weeks in first place fans would have a little more patience with manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Doug fears that Carrie will have less time for him now that she has a job that she loves, which could lead to a promising career.

Hanley Ramirez had a two-run homer and the Marlins staved off a furious New York rally in the ninth, as Florida edged the Yankees, 6-5, in the rubber match of a three-game interleague set.

There's a problem with setting high expectations: They're very, very hard to live up to.

The Marlins know South Florida is fired up about the arrival of the New York Yankees.

And this means you... Wes Helms, a steady but unspectacular performer during 11 major-league seasons, doesn't envision himself landing in baseball's Hall of Fame.

A chance to break the monotony is the way the Marlins are likely looking at this next road trip.

Ronny Paulino had two homers and three RBI Sunday, leading Florida to an 11-3 inter-league win over Toronto.