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Cabrera homers as Florida extends win streak over Milwaukee

Apr 10, 2007 - 4:11 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Miguel Cabrera celebrated earning National League Player of the Week honors by helping the Florida Marlins continue their dominance over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cabrera homered and drove in three runs as the Marlins posted a 5-3 victory over the Brewers in the first game of a three-game series.

Cabrera, who's hitting .500, overtook Arizona's Chris Young for the league lead in RBI with 11.

"He's good. He's locked in, and hopefully he stays there for a while," Marlins first-year manager Fredi Gonzalez.

"I'm feeling real good," Cabrera said. "I'm seeing more pitches to hit. The team's going good, so everybody is."

Cabrera hit his third homer of the season - a two-run shot in the third - off Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan to give Florida a 4-1 lead.

Anibal Sanchez pitched six solid innings for the Marlins, who won their third straight game and ninth consecutive against the Brewers.

The nine-game winning streak against Milwaukee ties for the longest active streak in the majors. The White Sox have defeated the Reds nine straight, as have the Cardinals over the Dodgers.

"It's our first loss to the Marlins this year," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "I don't care about any other year. I don't care about anything (other than) tonight.

The 23-year-old Sanchez (1-0) allowed three runs and eight hits, rebounding from a poor start against Washington in which he surrendered a career-high 10 hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday.

"I felt a little better because I worked it in," Sanchez said. "Here I feel real comfortable with the mound. ... I made an adjustment after the first inning. I just tried to keep the ball down."

Three relievers bridged the gap to rookie Henry Owens, who yielded a two-out single in the ninth inning before notching his first career save.

Owens, acquired from the New York Mets in a trade this offseason, replaced Jorge Julio, who was given the day off and has struggled in the early going.

"It's nice to get that first save and know you can do it at the major league level," Owens said while looking over the lineup card he was given by Gonzalez.

"I think I'm suited for the late innings," the Miami native said.

Geoff Jenkins homered in his third straight game - a two-run shot in the third inning - for the Brewers to cut their deficit to 4-3.

Suppan (0-2), who signed a four-year, $42 million contract in the offseason, allowed five runs - four earned - and eight hits in six innings for the Brewers, who have lost seven straight in Miami.

"They were getting good swings and I was not locating," Suppan said. "I made a lot of mistakes up. I made a lot of mistakes down the middle. For a couple of innings I was able to put some good pitches together but for the most part missing down the middle was a big factor for me tonight."

The Marlins tacked on a run in the sixth when Bill Hall dropped a routine fly ball hit by Joe Borchard, who later scored on a double by Alejandro De Aza.

"He (Borchard) put the ball in the gap," Hall said. "Unfortunately I've got to have that ball. It was getting close to the wall and it hit off the end of my glove. It's a play I've got to make. I was just trying to be aggressive, but it wasn't the right time to be aggressive."

Florida's Alfredo Amezaga had two hits batting leadoff in place of injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who is considered day-to-day with a right hamstring injury.

Cabrera's sacrifice fly in the first gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead, one they never relinquished.