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Rush Order Florida Marlins.MILWAUKEE -- Dontrelle Willis doesn't proclaim to be a tremendous hitter.
"It's hard enough for position players to do it every time, so you have to be realistic," the southpaw hurler said. "I just do whatever I can do that day, whatever situation. Last game, I came up with the bases loaded and one out, and I'm just trying to put the ball somewhere where they can score."
Including the sacrifice fly that resulted from that at-bat and brought home a go-ahead run Monday, the All-Star pitcher has handled the task more than adequately this season. In 200 at-bats, Willis is a career .225 hitter, including a .235 mark this year in 69 tries. He has two doubles among his 16 hits, with seven RBIs, one walk and 10 strikeouts.
"I think it's more important to field my position and take pride in bunting -- basically, doing whatever it takes to help the team win the ballgame," Willis said, shaking off the idea that hitting is of central importance to his game. "I'm trying to work on things, trying to make them second nature. It's still hard to do. But the more you do it, the more relaxed you get in situations. It's the same with hitting or pitching in that case."
Among pitchers with 40 at-bats, only Jason Marquis (.373), Noah Lowry (.273), Jeff Weaver (.255), Carlos Zambrano (.250), Horacio Ramirez (.241) and Livan Hernandez (.238) have fared better in the average department. And Willis is tied for second with Milwaukee's Chris Capuano and Lowry for the most RBIs among pitchers.
"He's a pretty good hitter," Marlins skipper Jack McKeon said. "Marquis is a good hitter, that kid Lowry is a good hitter. [Fellow Marlins lefty Jason] Vargas is a pretty good hitter. Still, you'd rather face those guys than the regular people. But once in a while you get burned."
More importantly, Willis' pitching hasn't been so bad either. He stands one win shy of Carl Pavano's club record for victories set last season, and finds himself on the National League leaderboard in wins (17, tied for first), ERA (2.67, tied for fourth) and shutouts (five, first). Opponents hit barely better against him (.244) than they do pitching to him.
Encarnacion still on shelf: McKeon said he did not expect to have the services of outfielder Juan Encarnacion on Tuesday, marking the third straight occasion in which Encarnacion was absent after leaving Saturday's game with a sore wrist.
"He got a [cortisone] shot and he might try hitting today," McKeon said. "We'll see how the shot goes, they tend to like to keep it quiet for a day or so when you get the shot. Which is all right to do, because it's not going to hurt him to get a breather."
McKeon did not rule out the possibility that Encarnacion could still see action in the series in Milwaukee, which lasts through Thursday.