Logan Morrison was stunned. He was headed back to the minors.

The Florida Marlins sent Morrison to Triple-A New Orleans and released veteran infielder Wes Helms after Saturday night's 3-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

"Heartbroken, man, disappointed," Morrison said. "I play through injury and this is how you get treated. It doesn't seem very fair to me."

Morrison went 0 for 3 with a walk Saturday night but had two hits in each of his previous two games. The 23-year-old outfielder is batting .249 with 17 homers and 60 RBIs on the year.

Morrison, who tied Texas' Nelson Cruz for the major league lead with 26 RBIs in July, said his demotion was attributed to his batting average. But Morrison, one of the team's most outspoken players, believes there are other reasons.

"I don't know if that makes any sense to me or you guys," Morrison said. "I asked for an explanation and the one I got was, 'You are hitting. 240.'

"I think it was something else. I don't even want to say it right now. I am just going to talk with my agent."

Following the resignation of manager Edwin Rodriguez in June, Morrison was reprimanded by the team for comments he posted on his Twitter account.

Morrison said he feels "resentment" and "anger" over the decision.

He said Saturday he was called into a meeting with president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest and general manager Mike Hill. Neither was available to comment after the game.

The Marlins will announce the corresponding roster moves for Morrison and Helms before Sunday's game.

Helms figured his days with the Marlins were numbered. He hit .190 this season, mainly in a reserve role. Helms pinch-hit Saturday and struck out against winning pitcher Tim Lincecum to end the seventh inning.

"It was a little shocking on my behalf but I can understand it, Helms said. "I didn't play a lot lately. They've got to do what they've got to do."

The 35-year-old Helms hopes to catch on with another team.

"I want to give it a shot somewhere else," Helms said. "Somebody calls I'm going to give it all I've got.

Morrison, Helms and the rest of the Marlins struggled against Lincecum (11-9), who struck out 10 in seven dominant innings. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner allowed two hits while lowering his league-leading road ERA to 2.08.

"We couldn't generate anything against him," Florida manager Jack McKeon said. "We had a couple of chances. With him you better cash in with every chance you get."

Javier Vazquez (7-10) pitched seven effective innings for the Marlins, yielding three runs and five hits. He also had 10 strikeouts.

"It's disappointing, you do a good job but sometimes the other guy is better," Vazquez said. "That happens."

Florida has lost eight of nine in its current 10-game homestand, which ends Sunday.

"It's frustrating, Vazquez said. "I wish I knew what goes wrong here."

Jeff Keppinger homered for San Francisco. Aubrey Huff added a two-out RBI double in the sixth.