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Kim, Hermida help Marlins edge Padres

Jul 6, 2007 - 12:01 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Byung-Hyun Kim collected his first victory in over a month and Jeremy Hermida homered to lead the Florida Marlins to a 3-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.

Kim (4-4) tossed 6 1/3 solid innings, yielding two runs and three hits while recording a season-high seven strikeouts. The 28-year-old, who walked two, had not won a start since May 28 and was 0-2 with a 5.22 ERA in his last six outings.

"I've been kind of struggling but I won the game, so I am very happy about that," Kim said through an interpreter. "The mound was a little higher than I expected. My control was a little bit off, but I kind of settled down."

Erasmo Ramirez faced one batter in the seventh before Justin Miller worked out of a one-out jam with runners on first and second to end the threat.

Armando Benitez worked around a leadoff walk to pitch a scoreless eighth before Kevin Gregg retired the side in the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

"Kim threw the ball well, and their bullpen did enough to hold us down," Padres manager Bud Black said.

After Kim yielded an RBI triple to Marcus Giles in the bottom of the first, the native of South Korea settled in, not allowing another hit until a Jose Cruz Jr. doubled in the fifth.

"In his last couple of outings, Kim has taken to what (pitching coach Rick Kranitz) has asked of him," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Pound the strike zone, and he did that. He did a nice job getting out of that, a veteran-type (effort)."

Kim ran into trouble in the seventh. He led off the frame by hitting Mike Cameron with a pitch, and one out later a double by Michael Barrett cut the Padres' deficit to 3-2. Kim then was replaced by Ramirez.

Florida got on the board against San Diego starter Jake Peavy in the second when Matt Treanor singled to score Josh Willingham and Hermida and give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.

"Treanor came up with a big hit, and it just takes those big hits against a guy like Peavy," Hermida said.

Hermida increased the lead in the fourth when he blasted an 0-2 pitch from Peavy over the center field wall to make it 3-1. It was Hermida's eighth home run.

"Peavy is tough," Hermida said. "He is one of the better guys in the league, day in and day out. Hopefully, he leaves a couple up for you, which I got one today."

Peavy (9-3) allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in seven innings. He struck out six.

"It was just one of those things where I've got to be better than I was to win," Peavy said. "That's all there is to it. A lot of times, you'll take those kinds of outings, and sometimes that's good enough to win. Obviously, it wasn't today."

In his final outing prior to a potential start in the All-Star game, the right-hander failed to become the fifth pitcher in the National League to record at least 10 victories.

Brian Giles walked three times for the Padres, who managed just three hits for the second time in the series.

"We have won our share of (close) games, but today it didn't happen," Black said. "I think the potential is there. It's not happening right now, but I do think we're seeing some signs of guys swinging the bats better. We're hoping to turn it around."

Treanor added two hits for the Marlins, who have won three of five.