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Jacobs, Uggla power Marlins past Mariners

Jun 19, 2008 - 6:31 AM By Paul Lowenberg PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Mike Jacobs homered and drove in three runs and Dan Uggla added a two-run homer to lead the Florida Marlins to an 8-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the rubber game of their three-game interleague series Wednesday night.

Making his third major league start since being brought up from Class AA Carolina on June 8, Ryan Tucker (2-1) tossed six effective innings to notch the win. The righthander allowed just two runs, scattering seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

"It gave me a lot of confidence to know that I can face these kinds of lineups and get through them two or three times," Tucker said. "As a starter, that's what I'm going to have to learn to do."

Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu each had two hits and three runs scored for the Marlins, who won their first series since sweeping the Washington Nationals from May 9-11. Florida drew a season-high 10 walks.

"As long as we're shaking hands at the end of the game, I don't care how we're pushing runs across the plate," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

The loss prevented the Mariners, who own a major league-worst 25-47 record, from winning consecutive games for the first time since May 27-28.

Jacobs hit his 17th homer, a two-run shot off Seattle starter R.A. Dickey (1-3) in the third, while Uggla belted his 21st shot off the left field scoreboard in the sixth against reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith to give the Marlins a 7-2 lead.

"I saw this one," Uggla said of his homer. "Today, I felt like I was seeing the ball better and had a better approach."

Dickey, who lasted just 1 2/3 innings in his previous start Friday, was taken out after throwing 97 pitches in 3 2/3 frames.

"Dickey had a tough time with his release point," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "He pitched out of a couple of jams, but it finally caught up to him. The pitch count got him. It's a whole new ballgame when you've got to go to your bullpen early."

Seattle was trailing, 3-1, when Dickey left with runners on first and second. Jacobs greeted Rowland-Smith with a single up the middle and, after Uggla walked to load the bases, Luis Gonzalez drew another free pass to make it 5-1.

Dickey, who has given up 12 runs over 5 2/3 innings in his last two starts, was charged with five runs, six hits and four walks. He struck out four.

"I had a good knuckleball," Dickey said. "I just didn't have a very good release point with it. It was moving good. I just couldn't keep it in the strike zone enough where they really had to commit to swinging at it all the time."

Ramirez doubled to lead off the game and Cantu drove him in with a single to give the Marlins a quick 1-0 lead. Seattle tied it in the bottom of the inning as Ichiro Suzuki extended his interleague hitting streak to 29 games with a single and scored on Raul Ibanez's base hit.

Jacobs followed Cantu's double in the third with a blast into the right field seats that put the Marlins ahead, 3-1.

"I think we got to them early, got some runs in the early going, and we were able to stay up on them," Gonzalez said.