It’s 30 for Castillo, and Marlins Beat Devil Rays

MIAMI —  Luis Castillo beat out a grounder to short and A.J. Burnett fired a flurry of 98-mph fastballs as the Florida Marlins won with speed Saturday night.

Castillo extended his hitting streak to 30 games with an infield single in the sixth inning, then scored the first run to help Burnett beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-0.

Burnett pitched a three-hitter and struck out a career-high 11.

Castillo was hitless in two at-bats before reaching to start the sixth. He hit a high hopper to shortstop Chris Gomez, who charged and bounced a hurried throw to first that was late.

“I have to use my speed,” Castillo said. “I tried to run hard.”

“If it’s a clean throw, he’s out, but Gomez had to throw it right away,” Tampa Bay Manager Hal McRae said. “Castillo’s a fast runner, and it wasn’t an easy play.”

It’s the 39th time a player has hit in 30 consecutive games. Castillo is the first to do it since Vladimir Guerrero had a 31-game streak for the Montreal Expos in 1999.

“Right now I feel I can get a hit every time,” Castillo said.

Burnett (7-5) looked strong from the start, breaking two of Steve Cox’s bats in the first inning. He was even tougher at the finish and retired the last 12 batters, including Brent Abernathy, whose bat sailed toward the dugout as he missed one final 98-mph fastball to end it.

“That pretty much summed up the night,” Abernathy said. “Fastball after fastball after fastball. That’s all he pitched, but it was all good.”

Burnett needed only two hours 22 minutes to beat the Devil Rays, who were shut out for the eighth time this season.

The right-hander pitched his third complete game this season and his third career shutout. He improved to 5-0 in interleague play with a 3.04 earned-run average.