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Uggla leads surging Marlins past Nationals

May 11, 2008 - 9:33 PM By Rich Dubroff PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Dan Uggla doesn't have clue why he's so hot, and he doesn't seem to care.

Uggla's second home run of the game broke an eighth-inning tie and gave the Florida Marlins a 5-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

Uggla, who hit a grand slam home run and drove in five runs Saturday, followed up his heroics with his second multi-homer game of the season and seventh of his career.

Uggla had five hits, three home runs and seven RBI as the Marlins swept the three-game series and notched their seventh straight win.

"I'm not good at analyzing and knowing what's going right or anything like that," Uggla said. "I'm just trying to stay aggressive, and that's about all I can tell you."

Florida is in the midst of its longest winning streak since it won nine in a row from August 20-29, 2006. The Marlins are nine games over .500 (23-14) for the first time since September 15, 2005.

"All these games in April and May, they're going to come back and play a big part in September," Uggla said.

The Marlins were stymied by Shawn Hill and trailed, 4-2, heading into the eighth.

Hill, who hasn't received a decision in five starts, had allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, but Washington manager Manny Acta decided to pinch-hit for him in the seventh.

"He was done," Acta said.

"It's huge," Uggla said of the comeback. "Obviously, we didn't have it working early in the ballgame. But that's the thing with this team, you never know. We've got a lot of guys with a lot of pop, and that can do a lot of good things."

Luis Ayala (1-3) started the eighth by allowing an infield single to Alfredo Amezaga. Jeremy Hermida followed by blasting a two-run home run to right-center field - his third of the season - to tie the score at 4-4.

Hermida wasn't concerned with his team trailing in the eighth.

"We were still lively," he said. "We've been on a little bit of a roll lately, so our confidence is high. We still had guys chatting, trying to make a comeback. Fight to the last out, and fortunately, we were able to get in a couple."

After Ayala retired Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu, Uggla slammed a 2-2 pitch to right-center - his 11th homer of the season - for a 5-4 lead. His 10th blast of the campaign - in the top of the sixth - cut Washington's lead to 4-2.

"We stole that one right out from under them," Uggla said.

"With our club, we have a chance to put a big number up," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "If we get a walk, an error, a base hit, the next guy can leave the ballpark."

Logan Kensing (2-0) threw a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Renyel Pinto tossed a perfect eighth and Kevin Gregg earned his seventh save with a scoreless ninth.

The Nationals were led by Aaron Boone, who had a solo home run in the second and an RBI triple in the third.

"It's frustrating to get swept," Boone said. "It's not going to get any easier. We've got to play better."

The Marlins scored a run in the second, when Uggla was hit by a pitch with one out, took third on Luis Gonzalez's single and scored on Wes Helms' sacrifice fly.

Boone's third home run of the season off Scott Olsen tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second.

Ronnie Belliard's two-run homer - his second of the season - with two outs in the third put Washington up, 3-1. Ryan Zimmerman followed with an infield single and scored on Boone's double.