Marlins hire St. Claire as pitching coach

MIAMI (AP) -- Former Washington Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire has been hired as pitching coach for the Florida Marlins.

St. Claire worked for Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and general manager Larry Beinfest when they all were with the Montreal Expos. He said Wednesday he looks forward to helping Florida's young rotation.

"I'm very excited," he said. "They have a lot of very talented pitchers there -- power arms, big tall guys who can create leverage and angles. They have the ability to have overpowering stuff."

Mark Wiley was pitching coach in 2007-09. The Marlins decided to make a change after a disappointing season for the starting staff, which finished 10th in the NL with an ERA of 4.57.

"At times the consistency wasn't there," St. Claire said. "But you see the stuff."

St. Claire was in his seventh season with the Nationals franchise when they fired him in early June. At the time, Washington had the worst ERA and record in the majors.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)