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Uggla's homer propels Marlins past White Sox

Jun 20, 2007 - 4:33 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Dan Uggla proved to be the hero for the Florida Marlins.

Uggla led off the ninth inning with his 13th homer as the Marlins rallied to post a 7-5 interleague victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Josh Willingham and Hanley Ramirez each homered for Florida, which lost starter Dontrelle Willis after the first inning due to an arm injury.

"We swung the bats well all night," Uggla said. "Luckily, we kept plugging and kept pitching, and we got enough runs."

Willis left with what was described as left elbow tightness after allowing four runs, three hits and three walks in the first inning.

"(Willis) left with stiffness in his forearm," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He was obviously not himself, which was probably the biggest reason we took him out. We'll re-evaluate tomorrow. He didn't want to come out of the game. He'd pitch with a broken arm."

The 25-year-old lefthander, who threw 15 of his 34 pitches for strikes, matched the shortest outing of his career, when he surrendered seven runs - six earned - and five hits in a 12-9 loss to the San Francisco Giants on April 30, 2004.

"(My arm) has felt like that the last couple of days, (and) I was just going to throw through it," Willis said. "That's pretty much what happens when you throw a lot of innings. I'm going to make my next start."

With the scored tied at 5-5 in the ninth, Uggla belted a 1-0 pitch from reliever Matt Thornton (2-3) into the left field seats to give the Marlins the lead.

"(Thornton's) a power pitcher," Uggla said. "I was looking for something hard to hit. I even broke my bat on (the home run), that's how hard he throws. Broken-bat homer tells you what kind of stuff that guy has."

Aaron Boone added a sacrifice fly later in the frame.

The runs came two innings after Willingham provided some heroics of his own. With Florida trailing, 5-4, with one out in the seventh inning, Willingham hammered a 2-1 pitch from reliever Ryan Bukvich over the center field wall to tie the score at 5-5.

Armando Benitez (1-3), who was acquired in a trade with the Giants on May 31, pitched the eighth to earn his first victory and Kevin Gregg came on in the ninth to get his 12th save in 12 opportunities.

The Marlins went ahead in the top of the first when Alfredo Amezaga doubled to lead off and Uggla hammered a double to the center field wall to make it 1-0. After Uggla stole third, Ramirez belted a 2-1 pitch off John Danks into the left field seats. Ramirez had three hits for Florida, which evened its interleague record to 7-7 this season.

Danks lasted four-plus innings, allowing four runs, eight hits and a walk. The lefthander has not pitched past the fifth inning in four of his last five starts.

"The only reason Danks made this ballclub is because he was throwing strikes," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Now he goes through four innings with 100 pitches. When you have those types of games at the big league level, you're not going to have too much success. Every time he gets behind hitters, he gets hurt."

The White Sox quickly rallied in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Jermaine Dye and a three-run homer by Josh Fields to give the White Sox a 4-3 lead.

"Willis was throwing strikes, and normally when pitchers are hurt they aren't even coming close to the strike zone," Fields said. "(The home run) was big, our pitchers rely on us to get hits and make plays. It gave the team a lift, at the time. It's unfortunate the way the game turned out."

Paul Konerko added a sacrifice fly in the second to increase the lead by two.

The Marlins cut their deficit to 5-4 in the fourth when Miguel Olivo scored on a double-play groundout.

Chicago has lost six of eight and the club continues to frustrate its manager.

"This is a joke," Guillen said. "You thought I was a good manager, well look at how good I am now. You're only as good as the players are. I have faith. The talent is there, but we're just wasting our time. I'm tired of being positive."