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Uggla's grand slam propels Marlins past Phillies

Jun 12, 2008 - 3:17 AM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Dan Uggla and the Florida Marlins have a flair for dramatic home runs.

Uggla hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning Wednesday, lifting the Florida Marlins to a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Uggla's 444-foot blast came on a 3-1 offering from Tom Gordon (5-3). It was the fourth walk-off homer for Florida this season.

"When you hit them like that, you have a good feeling that they are going to get out of there," Uggla said.

Jorge Cantu also homered twice for the Marlins, who have won four of their last five games. The three blasts also gave Florida a major league-leading 101 for the year.

"The Phillies really put it to us at their place and they've been hot for a while now," Uggla said. "It was good to have them come to our place and get these two games out of the way."

Gordon walked Hanley Ramirez to lead off the ninth and, with one out, Cantu singled and Wes Helms walked to load the bases. Uggla, who had been 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, delivered his 19th homer of the campaign for the win.

"I'm just looking for something straight," Uggla said. "I had a pretty rough night before that. (Cole) Hamels really put it to me, but that's why you have to really take each at-bat as it comes."

"I had to throw a strike to Uggla in that situation," Gordon said. "Obviously I didn't want to give up a home run. The fastball just wasn't working."

The Phillies had tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the inning on Chase Utley's RBI groundout off Florida closer Kevin Gregg (5-2), who blew his fourth save opportunity.

For most of the contest, the game was a pitchers' duel as Marlins starter Andrew Miller yielded just one run, four hits and a walk in seven innings. The 23-year-old lefthander struck out seven while throwing 63 of his 98 pitches for strikes.

"It was a good lineup so I wanted to go out there and focus more on throwing strikes instead of missing off the plate," Miller said. "It worked out for the most part."

Phillies southpaw Cole Hamels was overpowering, striking out a season-high 13 in eight innings. He allowed two runs, three hits and one walk.

"Hamels just shoved it right up our butts," Uggla said. "We are lucky we had Cantu, he kept us in there."

Cantu, who homered in the first to give Florida an early lead, snapped a 1-1 tie in the seventh when he deposited a shot into the left field seats. It was the 14th home run of the season and sixth in as many games for Cantu, who has posted two multi-homer games this year.

"Everything is feeling great right now," Cantu said. "I am feeling very confident at the plate, recognizing the pitch and hitting it."