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Marlins use long ball to top Giants

May 25, 2008 - 9:56 PM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) - Dan Uggla was one of four Florida Marlins who homered in an 8-6 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader.

Jeremy Hermida, Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross also homered for the Marlins, who have won four of their last five games.

Uggla's 16th homer of the season - a 433-foot two-run shot - came in the fifth inning off Giants starter Pat Misch (0-1) to snap a 5-5 tie. The Marlins second baseman is now tied with Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros for the most homers in the major leagues. Uggla has hit 12 home runs in May, which is the most by a Marlins player in any month.

"I feel I have the potential to hit some homers in a season, but you don't put a number or a pace on anything," Uggla said. "I'm not going to lie, I like where I'm at right now and swinging the bat like this."

Florida starter Mark Hendrickson (7-2) benefited from the run support, allowing five runs and nine hits and striking out five in five innings.

"Hendrickson battled through those five innings," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We were glad we were able to get him an opportunity to get the win."

Kevin Gregg pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 10th save of the season.

The Marlins led, 3-0, after back-to-back home runs by Hermida and Cantu in the first inning. Both blasts came on full counts.

"I wasn't really controlling too many pitches out there," Misch said. "I was getting behind in a lot of counts and it just ballooned from there. I didn't help the team out too much."

Aaron Rowand responded with a two-run homer to left field in the second inning, cutting the Giants deficit to 3-2. It was Rowand's 100th career home run.

In the third, Bengie Molina hit a two-run double to deep center field, giving San Francisco a 4-3 lead. Rowand then drove home Molina with a single off the left field scoreboard, extending the advantage to two runs.

The Marlins quickly tied the game with a pair of runs in the third, and Uggla's blast gave them the lead for good in the fifth. Uggla was honored by the fans with a curtain call.

"The curtain call was awesome," Uggla said. "It shows that these fans are into it, enjoying it, and know what's going on."

San Francisco cut the deficit to 7-6 on Molina's RBI double in the seventh, but Florida regained its two-run edge on Ross' solo blast in the bottom half of the inning.

"They were (hitting home runs) too," Gonzalez said. "We have a chance to do that throughout the lineup. So let's keep those bats rolling. "

Molina went 4-for-4 with three RBI for the Giants, who had their season-high three-game winning streak snapped.

Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel tied Luis Aparicio's major league record for most games played at shortstop with 2,583 games.

The game was delayed 29 minutes in the fourth inning due to rain.