Wayne gets first victory in majors

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The second time around was much better for Hawai'i's Justin Wayne.

Florida pitcher Justin Wayne, a 1997 Punahou School graduate, allowed two hits in 6 1/2 scoreless innings against Philadelphia last night. Wayne struck out four to improve to 1-1. Associated Press

Wayne (1-1) allowed five runs in four inning in his big league debut last week against the New York Mets.

"A little better results from the last time," Wayne said in a telephone interview from Philadelphia. "It was just a matter of locating my fastball and coming up with a formidable second pitch. I threw a lot more curves (than in his first start). Basically, that kept the hitters off-balanced. I also had great defensive plays on the field. That helped."

Wayne made a play out of self-preservation when he snagged a line drive off Placido Polanco's bat in he sixth.

"It definitely helped that I caught it," he said. "I don't know what would've happened otherwise."

Solo home runs by Andy Fox in the first and Derrek Lee in the second fueled Florida.

Wayne, who struck out four, allowed two of his four walks in the seventh. The right-hander was lifted when left-handed hitting Travis Lee came in to pinch hit. Wayne departed for left-hander Graeme Lloyd, who got an inning-ending double play.

"That was huge," said Wayne, who was an All-American at Stanford.

Wayne's father was thrilled with his son's performance.

"We saw him on Baseball Tonight. That was incredible," Jeff Wayne said. "We were going to change the channel when SportsCenter started."

Florida beat Philadelphia, 6-4, in yesterday's first game.