Rookie Brian Meadows improved to 3-2 with his first career complete game in a 5-1 victory against the Marlins. Meadows allowed only one unearned run and one walk while throwing 110 pitches and striking out 5. Cliff Floyd was 3-4 and Gary Sheffield revived his batting average up to .309 by going 2-4. Bonilla, Jackson, and Renteria each drove in one run for the Marlins. The attendance for the game was 21,708. Meadows lowered his ERA to 2.48 and his 3 victories are equal to the total victories by all the other Marlins’ starters combined. 76 of his 110 pitches were strikes.

Derrek Lee continued his excellent hitting by driving in Gary Sheffield and Bobby Bonilla in the 8th to give the Marlins a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies in front of 16,405 at Pro Player Stadium. Reliever turned starter Jesus Sanchez pitched 5 good innings allowing 2 earned runs. The bullpen shut out the Rockies the rest of the way. Mark Kotsay tied a team record by hitting 3 doubles.

The Marlins used 6 strong innings from starter Brian Meadows, a lead off home run by Cliff Floyd, a two run home run from Greg Zuan, and an RBI single from Derrek Lee to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3. Rob Stanifer got the last out of the game to earn his first save in his first game after being called up. Kevin Millar, starting for Bobby Bonilla, broke the hamate bone his left hand during his first at-bat. Millar was placed on the 15 day DL. Catcher/1B John Roskos was called up to take Millar’s spot.

Rafael Medina was placed on the 15 day disabled list. Rob Stanifer was called up. Jesus Sanchez will be converted into a starter to replace Medina in the rotation.

Craig Counsell’s second career home run, a grand slam in the bottom of the first, lead the Marlins to a 12-4 victory over Philadelphia. Counsell’s previous home run was also a grand slam. Charles Johnson crushed a 3-run home run in the 7th to add to the Marlins’ tally. Garry Sheffield, Dave Berg, and Derrek Lee each scored 2 runs. Berg came into the game in the first after Bobby Bonilla and Jim Leyland were ejected for arguing a strike out call. For Lee, it was his first multi-hit game of his career. He also drove in a run to raise his team leading total to 16 along with 5 home runs on only 9 hits. Livan Hernandez pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 earned runs, striking out 8 and driving in a run.

Roster update: Mark Kotsay has changed his number from 4 to 7.

The Marlins ended a franchise-record 11-game losing streak by beating the Pirates 7-2. Andy Larkin, making his first start in two years, pitched 6 strong innings Cliff Floyd doubled in two runs while Derrek Lee hit his second grand-slam this week. Lee has 4 home runs and a team-leading 13 RBI despite only playing 9 games and getting 5 hits.

Andy Larkin will start for the Marlins tonight at Pittsburgh, attempting to end the franchise-record 11 game losing streak.

Bobby Bonilla was activated from the Disabled List. Josh Booty was sent down to AAA Charlotte. Andy Larkin was called up to replace Eric Ludwick who was placed on the 15-day DL.

4/7/98 — In an effort to improve on the team’s 1-6 start, Jim Leyland has demoted Felix Heredia (0-2) back to the bullpen. The Marlins will have a 4-man rotation, allowing the starters to throw more pitches and improve their performance. Gabe Gonzalez was sent down to Triple-A and infielder Kevin Millar, who hit .333 in spring training, was called up.