Marlins win in 9th on Uggla, Ross HRs
August 3, 2009
MIAMI (AP)—Cody Ross(notes) had shaving cream caked on his collar, while Dan Uggla(notes)had the stuff dripping from his neck and earlobes.
Back-to-back solo homers in the ninth inning to win a game—on consecutivepitches, no less—left the Florida Marlins in a delirious mood.
Two outs from defeat, Uggla and Ross turned the Marlins’ fortunes aroundwith two mighty swings. Uggla tied it with his 19th homer, Ross followed withhis second of the day and 17th of the year, and Florida beat the Chicago Cubs3-2 on Sunday to move within five games of Philadelphia for the NL East lead.
“We’ve got one thing in mind,” said Ross, who also made two slidingcatches in center field and hit a game-ending home run for the second time inhis career. “I think everyone knows what that is.”
Kevin Gregg(notes) (4-3) blew a save for the second straight night for the Cubs,his fifth failure in 26 opportunities this season. The former Florida closerretired pinch-hitter Hanley Ramirez(notes) to lead off the ninth, then fell behind 3-1to Uggla, who settled in and waited for an off-speed offering.
Series at a Glance Chi Cubs 2 Florida 5 Fri, Jul 31 – Final Chi Cubs 9 Florida 8 Sat, Aug 1 – Final 10th Chi Cubs 2 Florida 3 Sun, Aug 2 – Final
Boom! His no-doubter into the blue seats high above the left-fieldscoreboard tied it at 2.
“I’ve seen Gregg a lot, and the last few years he’s been as dominant asanybody,” said Uggla, wiping away remnants of the obligatoryshaving-cream-in-the-face celebration in the clubhouse.
Uggla hadn’t even caught his breath when Ross connected, and the Marlinsended their homestand with a mob scene at home plate.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. “The thing finishedquick.”
Brendan Donnelly(notes) (2-0) allowed his first run in 11 innings as a Marlin—afirst-pitch shot by Jake Fox(notes) leading off the ninth. It was Fox’s eighth homer ofthe season.
Alas, that was just the start of the late-game heroics.
“It was two pitches,” Gregg said. “Twenty-five guys put together a greateffort and two pitches are why we walk out of here losing.”
Chicago Cubs' Kevin Gregg(… AP – Aug 2, 8:13 pm EDT
Both starters were stellar while working with little run support.
Florida’s Ricky Nolasco(notes) retired the final 14 batters he faced, giving up onerun and four hits in seven innings. The Cubs’ Ryan Dempster(notes), in his second startback from the disabled list, pitched six shutout innings, yielding just threehits.
Dempster left with a 1-0 lead, which Aaron Heilman(notes) promptly wasted. Twobatters into his outing, Heilman served up Ross’ first homer of the day, a driveto straightaway center field.
The Cubs went in front when Derrek Lee(notes) singled in Sam Fuld(notes) in the third.Fuld drew a one-out walk and went to second on Ryan Theriot’s(notes) single, part of athree-hit day for the Cubs’ shortstop.
Nolasco was unhittable from there.
Not only did he set down the final 14 he faced, Nolasco only let one ballescape the infield during that stretch. Nolasco, who has taken the loss justonce in his last 10 starts, lowered his ERA to 5.00, nearly half from what itwas May 22 (a season-worst 9.07).
“It all starts with starting pitching,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalezsaid. “Ricky Nolasco was outstanding today. And to go back-to-back there in theninth inning was something special, against a pretty good closer.”
NOTES: Ramirez, the Marlins’ shortstop and NL batting leader, was out of thestarting lineup because of a bruised left knee sustained when he was hit by apitch Saturday. … Chicago is 3-33 when scoring two runs or less this season.… Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez(notes) was held out after getting hit on the left forearmSaturday. He said he’ll try to play Monday at Cincinnati. … Marlins C JohnBaker(notes) extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
