Marlins Can’t Crack Knuckleball

The 56-mph knuckleballs of Jared Fernandez were enough to frustrate the Florida Marlins early, and a 98-mph fastball from Billy Wagner overpowered them later, enabling the Houston Astros to win, 3-1, Sunday at Miami.

Fernandez made a successful debut for the Astros, combining with Wagner and two other hard-throwing relievers on a five-hitter.

Fernandez, recalled Friday from triple-A New Orleans, yielded only three hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Fernandez (1-0) filled in for right-hander Roy Oswalt, who went on the disabled list Wednesday because of a groin injury. The right-hander retired 11 in a row during one stretch with pitches mostly in the 56-65 mph range.

It was Fernandez’s first appearance in the majors since last September with Cincinnati.

“I’m happy to be part of a winning team,” he said. “I know what’s going on in the standings and that these games are important.”

Brad Lidge pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings, and Octavio Dotel followed with a 1-2-3 eighth. Wagner gave up two hits in the ninth but still earned his 33rd save in 36 chances.

The Marlins went 7-2 on a home stand that propelled them into the wild-card race -- they are two games behind wild-card leader Philadelphia.

The Astros increased their lead in the Central Division to two games over St. Louis.

They head home after playing 14 of 17 games on the road since the All-Star break. They went 10-7 during the stretch.

Orlando Merced hit his second home run of the season leading off the third to put the Astros ahead, 2-1. Morgan Ensberg followed with a double and scored on Lance Berkman’s two-out bloop single.

San Diego 5, Philadelphia 2 -- Brian Buchanan hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning at Philadelphia.

Sean Burroughs and Gary Matthews Jr. started the 10th with consecutive walks against Jose Mesa (5-6). Buchanan fouled off two sacrifice bunt attempts, then hit his eighth home run into the left-center field seats.

Jay Witasick (3-2) pitched two hitless innings for the win. Rod Beck, celebrating his 35th birthday, converted his 15th consecutive save since signing with the Padres on June 2.

Chicago 2, Arizona 1 -- Sammy Sosa hit a two-run homer and Matt Clement (9-9) pitched three-hit ball for eight innings at Wrigley Field. The teams waited out a rain delay of 3 hours 15 minutes before getting started.

Sosa drove an 0-and-1 pitch into the left-center seats in the seventh inning off Oscar Villarreal, who had just replaced starter Brandon Webb.

It was Sosa’s 24th homer this season and the 523rd of his career, 11 behind Jimmie Foxx for 11th place on the all-time list. He has 14 home runs since July 1 -- most in the majors.

San Francisco 7, Cincinnati 3 -- Barry Bonds and Edgardo Alfonzo each drove in two runs, and Dustin Hermanson won in his return to the majors as the Giants avoided being swept in a three-game series at Cincinnati.

Hermanson (2-2), called up from triple-A Fresno on Saturday, yielded two runs and four hits in six innings in his first start since last Aug. 22 for Boston. He made 23 relief appearances with St. Louis this season before being released in June.

Jimmy Haynes (2-12), struggling with a recurrence of back problems that plagued him earlier this season, gave up six hits and six earned runs in 2 2/3 innings to raise his earned-run average from 5.89 to 6.30. He is the first Red pitcher to begin a season 2-12 since Ewell Blackwell in 1952.

Colorado 16, Pittsburgh 4 -- Jay Payton hit a pair of three-run homers and drove in a career-high seven runs at Pittsburgh.

One day after a 1-0 loss, the Rockies ended a four-game losing streak in which all four defeats were by one run. Preston Wilson and Juan Uribe each had four hits for Colorado, which matched a club record with 24 hits.

Payton was one RBI short of the club record shared by Larry Walker and Andres Galarraga. His first homer was part of a five-run first inning against Jeff D’Amico (6-11).

New York 13, St. Louis 5 -- Tony Clark homered from both sides of the plate and drove in five runs at New York to help Jeremy Griffiths earn his first major league victory.

The Mets set a season high for runs and hits in ending a three-game losing streak. Clark, rookie Jason Phillips and Cliff Floyd each had three of New York’s 19 hits.

Griffiths (1-1), called up from triple-A Norfolk to pitch in place of injured Tom Glavine, gave up one earned run and six hits in seven innings.

Montreal 4, Milwaukee 2 -- Livan Hernandez pitched seven strong innings at Montreal to help the Expos extended their winning streak to four games.

Hernandez (11-7) yielded five hits, including Royce Clayton’s solo homer in the fourth. Luis Ayala worked a scoreless eighth, and Rocky Biddle got three out for his 27th save in 32 chances.

The Brewers, who have lost four of five, ended a 3-7 trip.