Game: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Florida Marlins
Venue: Dolphin Stadium
Start Time: 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time
Attendance: 10,696
Length of Game: 2:57
Starting Pitchers: Micah Owings ( Diamondbacks) vs Mark Hendrickson (Marlins)
Maybe these first-place Florida Marlins are no fluke.
Dan Uggla hit his 14th home run and Kevin Gregg escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning to help the Marlins take the opening game in a series between division leaders, beating Arizona 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The game was the Marlins' first against an opponent that has a winning record since May 1, and the widespread assumption is the team with baseball's smallest payroll will fold as the schedule becomes more difficult.
But NL East leader Florida did lots of little things right against Arizona, which began the week with the best record in the majors. Jeremy Hermida and Luis Gonzalez had two-out RBI, the worst defense in the majors was errorless and Gregg came to the rescue to protect a one-run lead. After Renyel Pinto walked the bases loaded with one out in the eighth, Gregg entered the game and struck out Justin Upton and Eric Byrnes, the latter on a 3-2 fastball. Gregg followed with a hitless ninth for his eighth save in nine chances. Among those congratulating him in the clubhouse was owner Jeffrey Loria.
The NL West-leading Diamondbacks stranded five runners in scoring position, and Byrnes was tagged out trying to score from third on a grounder in the fifth.
Micah Owings (5-2) had a career-high 10 strikeouts, but allowed three runs in seven innings.
While the Marlins have been in first place for seven weeks, South Florida has yet to take notice. Attendance was 10,696.
Florida won even though Hanley Ramirez's slump persisted -- he went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Ramirez, who signed a $70 million, six-year contract Saturday with Florida, is 1-for-15 with 10 strikeouts in the past four games.
Uggla went 2-for-3 with a double and a homer, stole a base and scored twice. He led off the sixth with his sixth homer in 10 games to put the Marlins ahead 3-1, making him the first Florida player to hit 10 home runs in a month since Cliff Floyd in April 2002.
Chris Snyder hit his fourth homer for Arizona in the seventh.
Mark Hendrickson (6-2) needed 97 pitches to get through five innings but left with a 2-1 lead. The last batter he faced was Chris Young, who struck out looking with runners at first and third to end the fifth.
Matt Lindstrom's fastball registered 100 mph on the scoreboard radar gun in the sixth. He struck out Upton looking with an 85-mph curve on the next pitch to end the inning and strand a runner at second.
Hendrickson retired the first nine batters before Young doubled to start the fourth. After he was caught stealing, Augie Ojeda walked, took third on a single by Orlando Hudson and scored on Conor Jackson's sacrifice fly.
Florida regained the lead for good in the fourth. Uggla walked, stole second and came home on a two-out single by Gonzalez.
Up Next: Ricky Nolasco will pitch in game 2 for the Marlins-- He has a 2-3 record with an ERA of 5.59. Nolasco got a no-decision in his last start on May 14th against the Reds.
9-0 Brandon Webb will go for the D'backs. Webb has an ERA of 2.51-- Has allowed 43 hits, but has also struck out 43 hitters and only walked 13 so far this season.
First pitch is set for 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time. Game will be televised on FSN-HD or can be heard on radio 790 The Ticket AM Radio (English) or 1140 WQBA AM Radio (Spanish).