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.
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