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Nady hits two homers as Pirates edge Marlins

Jun 28, 2007 - 3:38 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Xavier Nady homered twice, including the go-ahead blast in the top of the 10th inning, as the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for a 7-5 victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.

Nady's 13th homer over the right field fence off Kevin Gregg (0-3) snapped a 5-5 tie and Ryan Doumit followed with his fourth shot as the Pirates hit back-to-back home runs for the second time this season.

"We had a couple extra-inning games in Anaheim and lost both of them, so we didn't want to be in that situation again," Nady said. "I got a first-pitch fastball that I thought I could drive and I think (Gregg) supplied most of the power. He's got good stuff."

"It was a fastball down," Gregg said. "(Nady) did a good job of going down and getting it."

Nady stroked his first blast of the game in the fourth to help Pittsburgh push its advantage to 3-0. It was the the first multi-home run contest for a Pirate this season.

Reliever Shawn Chacon (4-1) went 1 2/3 innings for the win and closer Matt Capps shut the door in the 10th for his seventh save for Pittsburgh, which has won two straight since enduring a five-game slide.

"Big hits are contagious and hopefully this will keep us going," Doumit said. "It was a big win for us. We showed some perseverance."

Florida tied the game at 5-5 in the eighth, when Josh Willingham led off with a single, then advanced to second on a passed ball before coming out for pinch runner Brett Carroll, who scored on Alfredo Amezaga's RBI single.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Jose Bautista's two-run homer off starter Sergio Mitre, who walked Chris Duffy prior to Bautista sending a 1-0 pitch over the left field scoreboard.

Pittsburgh stretched its advantage to 5-2 in the fifth, when Adam LaRoche hit a run-scoring single and Jason Bay lofted a sacrifice fly against Mitre.

Miguel Cabrera doubled to put runners at the corners and Mike Jacobs singled in Dan Uggla to close the score to 5-3 in the fifth.

In the seventh, Hanley Ramirez delivered his 11th homer off reliever Masumi Kuwata to help the Marlins close within 5-4.

Pirates rookie starter John Van Benschoten lasted just four innings, allowing two runs on three hits to remain winless since the 2004 campaign. He walked a season-high five and struck out three.

"Four innings is not what you want," Van Benschoten said. "I've got to start getting pitches over. The clubhouse is louder when you win so it's easier to talk about."

Mitre pitched six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The righthander has not won at Dolphin Stadium since June 14, 2005.

"We battled the whole game," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We had (Van Benschoten) on the ropes a couple of times but he came out of it. We're not getting the hits when we need to."

Florida has dropped its lost four outings and 11 of 14 game here.