Monday, July 30, 2001
Sour homecoming for Perez
Marlins first to get swept at Cinergy
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
Tony Perez leaned back in his chair, drummed his fingertips on his desk and contemplated his homecoming weekend. He wanted to forget it.
“We're embarrassing out there,” the Florida Marlins manager said after the Reds completed a three-game sweep with an 8-4 victory. “We're losing games because we don't do our job. Why? I don't know.”
Perez had called a team meeting before Sunday's game and at first, it seemed to work. The Marlins took a 4-0 lead in the fifth inning Sunday, and it appeared the Reds' longest home winning streak of the season would end at two. The majors' worst home team (16-37) usually puts up little fight in those circumstances.
“A 4-0 lead is pretty good, the way they play in this ballpark,” Perez said. “But they turned it around. They played better than we did in this series.”
It wasn't hard to do that.
Todd Walker's two-run double off the glove of lunging left fielder Kevin Millar finished a five-run rally in the sixth inning off A.J. Burnett (8-6), who had his winning streak stopped at three. The play epitomized the Marlins' weekend — Millar got a bad break, then had the ball deflect off his glove.
“It's disappointing, but I can't dwell on it,” said Burnett, who was still upset a half-hour after the game ended. “When they score for you, you've got to shut them down.”
The Marlins were ready to jump into the thick of the NL East race when they left Miami last week for a 10-game trip, trailing Atlanta by 4 1/2 games. They lost three games in Cincinnati and three games in the standings.
Florida has struggled on the road for most of the season and wanted to start this trip at its best. Instead, the Marlins added to their road woes — 13 losses in the last 16 games.
“Every time we go home, it's something good,” Perez said, shaking his head. “But when we come out of there, it's the same old.”
Marlins Notes: The Marlins are 20-34 on the road overall. ... Florida's pitching staff has a 5.70 ERA in the last 16 games and has given up six runs or more in half of them. ... Following Sunday's game, the Marlins sent OF Ryan Thompson outright to Triple-A Calgary.
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Sour homecoming for Perez 
