MIAMI GARDENS —— The clubhouse door stayed shut for several minutes after the Marlins' 3-0 loss to the Giants on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium. The aftermath? Veteran Wes Helms was released and left fielder Logan Morrison was shipped to Triple-A New Orleans.
Helms, 35, was batting .191. Morrison, 23, was hitting .249 with 17 homers and 60 RBI, the third most among the regulars.
When the door opened to the media, manager Jack McKeon said the moves were decisions made by the organization and that Morrison needed to "work on his whole game.''
Morrison was sitting by his locker with his head down, seemingly in shock after being summoned from the training room to the manager's office, where President of Baseball Operations Larry Beinfest and GM Mike Hill delivered the stunning news.
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"Heartbreaking move, disappointed. What are you hitting, .240?'' Morrison said Beinfest told him. "I don't know if that makes any sense to me or you guys, but all I know is I go out and give everything for this team. I play hurt, play through injury and this is how you get treated. It doesn't seem very fair or right to me.
"They didn't say anything about [my 17 homers and 60 RBI]. They didn't say anything about maybe the reason I was hitting .240 was getting the guy over to third rolling over groundballs, not worrying about average.
"Am I going to say I'm having the best of years? Absolutely not. But I'm never satisfied.''
Although Marlins starter Javier Vazquez deserved a better fate while allowing three runs on five hits while tying a season high with 10 strikeouts and no walks in seven innings, his teammates were overmatched by two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.
The long-haired right-hander gave up two singles in seven innings and struck out 10 to lift the slumping Giants before a crowd of 25,013. All Lincecum needed was a solo homer by Jeff Keppinger in the first inning to improve to 11-9 (2.58 ERA).
Relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson (35th save) completed the combined three-hit shutout. It was the 10th time the Marlins have been blanked this season.
The Marlins have gone 1-8 on this 10-game homestand.
Two of the three earned runs allowed by Vazquez (7-10), were the direct result of shaky defensive play by Morrison. His throwing error set up one run and a dropped fly ball after a long run led to another.
Morrison, considered the best defensive first baseman in the Marlins' farm system, has made seven errors. He shifted to the outfield last season when Gaby Sanchez developed into a run-producing hitter.
Morrison, who's outspoken and often shares his humorous, candid thoughts on Twitter and radio, said he believes the demotion may have to do with something he did "off the field.'' He didn't wish to elaborate.
Morrison said he still wanted to play "for a big-league team and yes, that's the big-league team I'm with, [except] I'm in Triple-A now,'' he said. "Right now I just feel resentment and anger. I guess anger could motivate.
"Stand up for what's right and this happens.''
Helms, in his second stint with the Marlins (2006, 2008 to present) didn't express any bitterness about his release and has no intentions of retiring.
"I'm hitting .190 and haven't played much lately,'' Helms said. "They got to do what they got to do. They got a new stadium next year and evidently I'm not part of the plan. I'm not done yet. I want to give it a shot somewhere else. Not ready to coach yet.''
