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Uggla, Ross lead Marlins past Phillies 6-2

May 28, 2009 - 3:01 AM By ROB MAADDI AP Sports Writer

PHILADELPHIA(AP) -- Burke Badenhop might find a permanent home in the starting rotation with more starts like his first one.

Badenhop pitched five sharp innings, Dan Uggla and Cody Ross homered and the Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Wednesday night.

Making his first start of the season, Badenhop (3-2) allowed one run and five hits. Matt Lindstrom retired Jimmy Rollins on a liner to center with the bases loaded to end it.

"Badenhop was fantastic," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He set up the whole game for us. To give us five innings was great."

Brett Myers (4-3) gave up five runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for Philadelphia before leaving with right hip inflammation. He allowed just six runs in 21 innings in his previous three starts.

Myers said his hip has been bothering him for a while, but he doesn't expect to miss a start.

"Today was the worst it's been," he said. "It was hard to finish pitches. It's tough, but you have to power through it. I wasn't going to quit. I hope it's nothing serious."

Carlos Ruiz and pinch-hitter Matt Stairs homered for the Phillies.

The Marlins had lost 11 of 14 before taking two of three from Philadelphia, which lost another series at home. The Phillies have the best road record in the majors at 16-6, but they're 9-14 at Citizens Bank Park.

Trailing 5-1 to start the eighth, the Phillies brought the tying run to the plate against Leo Nunez. The hard-throwing right-hander retired the first batter before Stairs launched one into the second deck in right field.

Rollins walked and Shane Victorino reached when first baseman Jorge Cantu booted his hard one-hopper. But Nunez escaped further damage by getting Chase Utley to fly out and striking out Ryan Howard on a 96 mph fastball.

"We had chances, but we couldn't get it done," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Badenhop became the 10th pitcher to start for the Marlins just 48 games into the season. A starter throughout his minor league career, Badenhop pitched in relief his first 11 appearances. He was summoned from the bullpen to replace Ricky Nolasco, who was sent to Triple-A after going 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA. Nolasco won 15 games last year and was the opening-day starter this season.

"I was being aggressive, trying to work down in the zone," Badenhop said.

Uggla hit his ninth homer out to left to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Uggla added an RBI double in the sixth, and Ross connected with two outs to make it 5-1.

Myers has allowed a major league-high 17 homers, including seven in his last three starts.

Batting third for the first time this season with Hanley Ramirez sidelined by a groin injury, the struggling Uggla continued his torrid hitting against Myers. He's batting .389 (14 for 36) with five homers and 14 RBIs off the right-hander.

"We've gotten him and he's gotten us. He has terrific stuff," Uggla said.

Wes Helms put Florida ahead 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Ruiz went deep in the bottom half. He has two homers, half of his total from last year.

Badenhop escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the first, getting Raul Ibanez to ground into a double play. He struck out Ibanez and Jayson Werth after Howard's one-out double in the fourth.

"It was big. I just tried to keep the ball down," Badenhop said of Ibanez's double-play grounder.

Myers dropped to his knees and made a nice stab on John Baker's hard liner in the third. The ball might have hit his head if he hadn't reacted so quickly.

Notes: Ramirez is day to day with tightness in his right groin. ... Helms got his first stolen base since April 12, 2002. ... The Phillies are 1-6-1 in eight series at home. ... Philadelphia pitchers have allowed 71 homers, most in the majors. ... Stairs has 17 career pinch-hit homers, including three this season.