NATIONAL LEAGUE Marlins' Beckett blanks Pirates; Florida stays atop wild card race

Pittsburgh's four-game winning streak against the Marlins was snapped.
MIAMI (AP) -- The Florida Marlins turned to Josh Beckett, and he was special enough to help them finally beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Beckett also helped himself, driving in the game's first run as the Marlins beat the Pirates 3-0 Wednesday night to maintain a share of the top spot in the NL wild card race.
Beckett, who entered with just one win in his previous six starts, pitched 72/3 innings as the Marlins snapped a four-game losing streak to the Pirates -- all within the past week.
"He was outstanding," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "The man has special stuff, and he had it tonight. He had plenty left in the tank. That was a special performance."
Beckett (7-7) won for just the second time in seven starts, allowing just three hits. He retired 13 of his first 14 batters before giving up a one-out double to Carlos Rivera in the fifth.
Jason Kendall singled in the sixth, and Tike Redman in the eighth.
Beckett came within one out of equaling the longest outing of his career, but he was satisfied to help keep the Marlins at the top of the wild card heap.
"We won, and that's what matters right now," Beckett said.
Ugueth Urbina got four outs to earn his 28th save.
"It was a nice to come back and win one," Florida manager Jack McKeon said. "It was a huge effort by Beckett. He hit in the go-ahead run. His pitching was superb. One of his finest games. I know I say that every time, but this one was."
Josh Fogg (8-8) took the loss for the Pirates, who had won six of their last seven against the Marlins. Fogg, who beat Florida last week, allowed three runs two earned and seven hits in six innings. Fogg's outing was decent, but it wasn't enough to match Beckett pitch-for-pitch.
Two-out trouble
After shutting out the Marlins for 72/3 innings last week, Fogg was unable to come up with the big pitch. Florida scored all three runs with two outs.
Beckett knocked in the first run with a two-out single in the fifth, scoring Alex Gonzalez. The Marlins added a pair of runs in the sixth.
Luis Castillo led off with a double, and Ivan Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. With two outs and runners on second and third, Derrek Lee lined a single to left, scoring Castillo.
Matt Stairs was charged with an error when his throw was wide of the plate, hit Castillo and rolled into the dugout, allowing Rodriguez to score.