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Cabrera homers twice as Marlins hold off Royals

Jun 17, 2007 - 4:24 AM KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Florida Marlins took a big lead and hung on for dear life.

Miguel Cabrera hit two home runs and Miguel Olivo had five hits and an RBI to lead the Marlins to a 9-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

The Marlins led, 9-3, after six innings but allowed the Royals to make a game of it with five runs over the final three innings.

"You've got to get 27 outs," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "You can't step off the rubber and let time expire. It's tough."

Kansas City tallied three times in the bottom of the seventh and once in the eighth and ninth innings, but fell short of completing the comeback.

Florida closer Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth, earning his 11th save after getting Mark Teahen to ground into a double play and Mike Sweeney to fly out to end the game.

Rick Vanden Hurk (2-2) picked up the win, despite allowing six runs - five earned - and seven hits in six innings. He also walked two while striking out seven.

Jorge De La Rosa (4-7) remained winless in his last six starts, allowing seven runs, 13 hits and one walk while striking out four.

"I made a couple of mistakes," De La Rosa said. "I didn't throw the ball good. I left a couple of pitches up and I paid for it. I threw more strikes today and they hit the ball good."

Cabrera hit a two-run homer off De La Rosa in the Marlins' four-run fifth and improved his league-leading batting average against lefthanders to .411 (23-for-56).

"This year I'm hitting better against lefthanders," Cabrera said. "A couple of years ago I think I hit .250 against them."

Cabrera, who normally plays third base, was the designated hitter for only the second time this year.

"You've got to worry about hitting only, so you've got to do something offensively. So I had a good day," Cabrera said.

In the sixth inning, Cabrera, who was the National League Player of the Week last week, homered with Hanley Ramirez aboard, this one off righthander Joel Peralta. It was Cabrera's eighth career multi-homer game and his first since August 23, 2006 at Washington.

"Cabrera is Cabrera," Gonzalez said. "He's got a chance to be the Player of the Week every week."

Olivo, whose five hits were a career high and matched a franchise record, is 7-for-8 in the series. He has a .416 (37-for-89) career batting average against the Royals to go with 22 RBI.

"I feel confident here," Olivo said. "I do, but I don't know why. I feel comfortable in this ballpark. I see the ball so clear. I just see it. I feel relaxed. I hope I feel this way in Chicago (against the White Sox in the Marlins' next series)."

Gonzalez said he had planned on starting backup catcher Matt Treanor on Sunday, but will give Olivo another chance to shine.

The Marlins' 17-hit attack also included two hits each from Dan Uggla, Ramirez and Jeremy Hermida.

John Buck hit a pair of solo home runs for the Royals while Sweeney and David DeJesus also drove in two runs apiece. Buck's 12 homers matches his career high and it was his fourth career two-homer game.

"They left a couple of pitches up in fastball counts," Buck said. "The day before I was trying to do too much, so today I was just literally trying to make solid contact and I just got good wood on it."

After the game, the Marlins optioned Vanden Hurk to Class AA Carolina.

With Josh Johnson coming off the disabled list and starting on Tuesday, Gonzalez said the team wanted Vanden Hurk starting every fifth day in the minors instead of going to the bullpen.

"Obviously you want to stay here," Vanden Hurk said. "J.J. is coming back and I'm going down. It's part of the game. It's always a great experience being here."