rd didnt expect to fill all the holes on the Pittsburgh Pengui

MIAMI -- When Henderson Alvarez closed out his shutout with a strikeout, the right-hander spun on the mound and threw a celebratory uppercut that landed on his left shoulder. That was as hard as he was hit all night. Alvarez pitched a six-hitter for his second shutout this season, and the Miami Marlins won again at home, beating the New York Mets 3-0 Tuesday night. Relying mostly on his sinker and changeup, Alvarez struck out seven, walked none and threw 111 pitches. "I just concentrated on keeping my breaking ball down and letting the batter swing," he said. Miami improved to a major league-best 16-5 at Marlins Park, and is 7-1 on the current homestand with one game left. The Marlins clinched the series and have won seven of their eight home series, but theyre 2-10 on the road. "Were playing with a lot of confidence right now," manager Mike Redmond said. "Hopefully we can finish it off Wednesday and go on the road and start winning some games out of our suitcase. Thats big right now in our development process." Alvarez (2-2) completed the victory by striking out Curtis Granderson on three pitches with a runner on third. He retired the side in order only three times but was helped by two double plays and a fine play by third baseman Casey McGehee, who threw out a batter from foul territory. Alvarezs quick tempo helped the defence, McGehee said. "When stuff is happening and you dont get flatfooted out there, it makes it easier," McGehee said. "You feel like youre in the flow of the game." The victory took only 2:08. "Nice to be able to get a little extra sleep for the 12:40 game Wednesday," Redmond said. Alvarezs only other victory this year was a complete-game 7-0 victory over Seattle on April 19 -- at home, of course. He now has four career shutouts, including a no-hitter against Detroit on the final day of last season. He has the most shutouts of any active pitcher with 65 career starts or less. "When you see nights like this, you realize this guy has a chance to be really, really good," Redmond said. "It just comes down to consistency for him." The Mets, who went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, were shut out for the third time. "Youve got to get the big hit, as they got," manager Terry Collins said. "We didnt get any." McGehee had a pair of RBI singles and is now batting .441 with runners in scoring position. Hitting mostly cleanup, he has no homers but 23 RBIs. Bartolo Colon (2-5) allowed three runs in seven innings. He also went 0 for 2, striking out both times, leaving Mets pitchers at 0 for 56 this season with 30 strikeouts. Alvarez allowed a leadoff double in the fourth but retired the next three batters, including David Wright and Granderson on lineouts. Wright grounded out to end the sixth with runners at second and third. "When Alvarez has his A stuff like tonight, and you have a good at-bat and hit a ball hard, its pretty frustrating," Wright said, "because you know theres not going to be too many opportunities when hes throwing the ball like he is." The Marlins won with seven hits. NL home run leader Giancarlo Stanton missed one by inches when he hit an RBI double that caromed off the wall near the 418-foot sign in centre field in the first inning. He scored on a single by McGehee. The Marlins put together three consecutive two-out singles in the fifth, the last by McGehee to make it 3-0. "These guys are red hot here," Collins said. "Were going to get hot, too." NOTES: The Marlins released INF Greg Dobbs. ... Marlins INF Rafael Furcal, who has endured repeated setbacks trying to recover from hamstring and groin injuries, returned to extended spring training in Jupiter, and theres no timetable for his next rehabilitation assignment. ... The retractable roof was open on a 79-degree night. ... Marlins LF Christian Yelich visited a class of sixth-graders Tuesday and took questions. "My favourite one was, Do your parents still love you now that youre in the big leagues?" Yelich said. ... Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (1-3, 5.13) is scheduled to pitch against RHP Tom Koehler (3-2, 2.41) in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Cheap Adidas Superstar Wholesale .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Packers by 3RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 7-4, Green Bay 5-5-1SERIES RECORD — Tied 5-5. Cheap Adidas Superstar China . -- Jerome Verrier scored once and set up two more as the Drummondville Voltigeurs downed the visiting Chicoutimi Sagueneens 5-1 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play. http://www.cheapadidassuperstar.us/. A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. Adidas Superstar Wholesale China .C. -- The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday theyve signed free agent wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery to a two-year contract, helping rebuild a depleted wide receiving corps. Cheap Adidas Superstar . - The Raiders have released guard Mike Brisiel after two disappointing seasons in Oakland.Jim Rutherford didnt expect to fill all the holes on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster in a day. Good thing, because it didnt happen. Not even close. Still, the new general manager isnt panicking despite losing six players in free agency, including defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and talented winger Jussi Jokinen. Less than a month into the job, Rutherford is taking a pragmatic approach to replenishing the talent around stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The process began Tuesday when the Penguins signed defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, forward Blake Comeau and goaltender Thomas Greiss to one-year deals. The team also retained forward Marcel Goc. Hardly the kind of splashy signings made elsewhere -- Washington spent $67.5 million alone to bring in Orpik and Niskanen -- but Rutherford isnt complaining. "We dont necessarily have to have our team all set for a playoff run in September," he said. Ehrhoff came onto the market over the weekend after the Buffalo Sabres bought out the final seven seasons his 10-year contract. The 31-year-old will make $4 million next season in Pittsburgh. The German-born Ehrhoff has 69 goals and 313 points in 692 games, and Rutherford believes Ehrhoffs skill set will fit in well under new coach Mike Johnston. "He plays a lot of minutes, 23-24 a game, can play right or left defence, power play, penalty kill," Rutherford said. "Hes in great shape and a great team guy. He can really skate and with the kind of team we have, having a guy back there that can skate and move the puck is important." Rutherford is confident the young defencemen in Pittsburghs minor league system will give the Penguins a solid blue linne even without Orpik -- the longest-tenured defenceman in team history -- and Niskanen, who cashed in after a career year.dddddddddddd Still, Rutherford didnt waste a chance to grab Ehrhoff despite the shortness of the deal. "He loved the opportunity to come with the Penguins," Rutherford said. "He just felt that, lets give it a one-year try with a good team and have a chance to win and then well look at it at the end of the season." Comeau provides depth as a third or fourth line forward. The 28-year-old had five goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Greiss, who went 10-8-5 with a 2.29 goals-against average for Phoenix in 2013-14, will compete with Jeff Zatkoff for the backup spot behind Marc-Andre Fleury. The signings give the Penguins depth, but also leave plenty to address going forward, including who is going to play with Malkin after the departure of Jokinen and James Neal. The Penguins traded Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling on Friday, and Jokinen left on Tuesday to sign a four-year deal with the Florida Panthers. Hornqvist is a candidate to fill out a top six spot, and the return of Pascal Dupuis from a knee injury and Beau Bennett from a wrist injury should give the Penguins some options. Rutherford didnt rule out a run at free agent forward Nikolai Kulemin -- who happens to be a good friend of Malkins -- but isnt sure the money will work. "Theres always a chance but it would take someone getting very, very creative to figure out how that contract fits into our cap," Rutherford said. ------ AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, NY contributed to this report. ' ' '