MIAMI - Most know him as "D-Train," although his manager has taken to calling him "A-Train."

By any name, this much is certain: Dontrelle Willis seems to be rolling again.

Willis (14-6) threw seven shutout innings for his first win in four starts, outdueling Kip Wells and lifting the Florida Marlins to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

"We've got the A-Train on track now," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "D-Train, that's history."

Said Willis, who was unaware of his new nickname: "He's the skip, so he can call me whatever he wants."

Juan Encarnacion had a run-scoring double and Mike Lowell added a sacrifice fly in Florida's two-run seventh, and Miguel Cabrera had a sacrifice fly in the eighth. That was enough for Willis, who allowed three hits and struck out seven as the Marlins remained 5½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.

The simplest difference for Willis on Thursday was throwing strikes: 67.3 percent of his offerings were strikes against Pittsburgh, a pace nearly 10 percent higher than what he had in the three straight losses.

Wells (6-11) was fine until the seventh when the Marlins broke through and extended the right-hander's road woes.

Jeff Conine, who had two hits as a replacement starter at first base for Carlos Delgado, singled leading off the seventh - just the third hit by the Marlins. Encarnacion's double came on a crisp shot down the third base line three batters later. Lowell's fly ball brought home Paul Lo Duca with the second run.

"I don't know how Kip Wells is whatever his record is," Lowell said. "He's got good stuff. ... We didn't swing the bats all that well, but good enough. That's what good pitching does. It keeps you in the game."

Wells lost his seventh straight road start despite allowing four hits and two runs. In the seven road losses, the Pirates have scored just 10 runs - five in a June 30 defeat at Washington.

"It's been very disappointing for him," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "But I see him growing in a lot of different ways and we have to continue to encourage him, and continue to make him better."

Jason Bay had two hits for the Pirates, who dropped two of three in Florida and lost a series to the Marlins for the first time since September 2003.

"We had our work cut out for us with the way Dontrelle was throwing," Wells said. "I obviously didn't want to give up any, but I had them pretty much where I wanted them for the most part."

Notes:

Wells' ERA in his last seven road starts

is

9.93, even after his solid outing Thursday. ... Delgado (sore arm) and SS Alex Gonzalez (sore elbow) were both out of Florida's lineup. Before the game, McKeon said he hoped to have both back on Friday; after the game, he pushed the probable return to Saturday. ... Pirates CF Ryan Duffy misplayed a short fly ball hit by Cabrera in the fourth; he backtracked, then recovered to make an inning-ending sprawling catch. ... Pierre struck out in the sixth inning, his first whiff in 32 at-bats. ... The Pirates were shut out for the eighth time.