Pettitte fans 10 in seven innings, Astros crush Marlins

MIAMI (AP) -- Andy Pettitte and the Houston Astros handed the Florida Marlins their worst shutout loss at home.

Pettitte struck out 10 in seven sharp innings, Adam Everett had a career-high four hits and the Astros beat the Marlins 12-0 Saturday. The Marlins' previous worst shutout loss at Dolphin Stadium was an 11-0 setback to Atlanta on September 23, 1998.

Everett also tied a career high with four RBI. Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer and Chris Burke scored three runs for the Astros, who finished with a season-high 18 hits.

Pettitte (8-9) allowed just five hits and two walks to improve to 2-0 in July. It was quite a change from his previous start against the Marlins this season when he gave up 10 runs and 13 hits in 4 2/3 innings in his first outing this year.

"To get a few runs early was nice and then we just kept adding on," Pettitte said. "My pitches were cutting pretty good. I'm getting in a good rhythm so hopefully that will continue."

Josh Johnson (8-5) pitched five innings for Florida and allowed four runs and six hits. He struck out six in his first loss since June 6 at San Francisco. He had not allowed more than three runs in any of his previous 12 starts.

"I was in bad counts and threw way too many pitches," Johnson said. "My fastball was missing all over the place."

The Marlins lost for the fourth time in five games while the Astros won for just the second time in six games.

Brad Ausmus and Everett had RBI singles in the second inning and Berkman hit his 25th homer in the third to make it 4-0.

"It was nice to get hits with guys in scoring position," Everett said. "We finally played some Astros baseball tonight with everybody contributing."

The Astros pushed across four runs in the seventh. Burke hit a solo homer, Everett drove in a pair with a double and Pettitte singled in Everett.

"That sure was fun, it hasn't happened very much," manager Phil Garner said. "Most of the time it's the top six of the batting order that does the damage. When they (Ausmus and Everett) can pitch in and get runs for us it gets us over the hump."

Ausmus went 3-for-5 with two RBI for Houston, which tacked on four runs in the eighth. The Marlins' bullpen allowed eight runs.

"We didn't play well and we didn't pitch well," Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. "He (Pettitte) located his cutter very well and his curveball was effective. If he has his curveball, it's dynamite. It didn't matter if they were up two runs or one run, we didn't score."

Game notes
Houston's Craig Biggio reached on an infield single in the sixth for his 2,884th career hit, tying him with Zack Wheat for 34th on the career list. ... The Astros turned one double play and lead the majors with 110. ... Berkman went 2-for-5 with two RBI and leads the National League with 83 RBI. ... Johnson lost for just the second time in seven decisions at home. ... Everett went 4-for-4 and also scored a run. He has driven in four runs in five games in his career. ... Houston's 18 hits tied a season high for a Florida opponent. The Giants had 18 hits in a 14-2 win over the Marlins on June 5.