No fine for Helms

It was best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men stuff for the Marlins Saturday night when pinch-hitter Wes Helms missed a sign and attempted to bunt in the seventh inning. After failing to put down a bunt, Helms faced an 0-2 count and hit a three-run homer to lift the Marlins to a 5-3 lead.

"No I'm not going to fine him,'' joked Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.

Helms said "I would have been glad to pay a fine.''

It was Helms' sixth pinch-hit home of his career.

"The pinch hit home runs mean a lot more to me,'' he said.

Helms met with Marlins third base coach Bo Porter immediately and the innnig to talk about what went wrong.

Gonzalez said Sunday morning that because teams are always trying to steal signs, it forces him to always change the signs.

"Every team does it their way,'' Gonzalez said. "When I was in high school (Southridge High) my coach had a sign for every kid on the team. I was 14 years old and I'm trying to keep up with that,'' he said smiling.

"Yeah, I missed signs when I was 14. I'm 44 and I till miss signs.''