Marlins' 4 homers help snap a four-game skid

Dan Uggla hit two over the fence as the Bucs lost, 9-3.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Dan Uggla drove in four runs while hitting two of Florida's four homers, helping Sergio Mitre win for the first time in more than a year in a 9-3 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
Hanley Ramirez, dropped from leadoff to No. 3 in the order with the slumping Miguel Cabrera taking a night off, also homered while reaching base five times for Florida, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Jeremy Hermida hit a solo shot as the Marlins won for only the fifth time in their last 18 games in Pittsburgh.
Mitre (1-2), coming off eight shutout innings in a no-decision against the Dodgers on Thursday, wasn't quite as sharp, giving up three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits in 72/3 innings. But he ended a six-game losing streak that spanned 19 appearances since April 4, 2006, when he beat Houston as a starter 11-2.
The Pirates scored 20 runs in winning their previous two games, but managed only an unearned run on shortstop Ramirez's error until scoring twice in the seventh on Adam LaRoche's double, two singles and a wild pitch by Mitre.
Revamped lineup
Manager Fredi Gonzalez tinkered with his lineup one night after pitcher Dontrelle Willis said the Marlins looked flat in a 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh, and couldn't have gotten much better results.
Ramirez, whose .343 average as a leadoff hitter is the best in the majors, hit a leadoff homer in the fourth, making up for allowing Jack Wilson's grounder to go between his legs for a run-scoring error minutes earlier.
Ramirez also singled, stole third base and scored in the four-run sixth against Paul Maholm (2-5) highlighted by Uggla's go-ahead, two-run homer.
Alfredo Amezaga, batting leadoff instead of Ramirez, was on base four times against his former club. He singled ahead of Uggla's first homer in the sixth and walked before Uggla hit his eighth of the season and second in as many at-bats an inning later, against reliever Marty McLeary.
Hermida, out all season with a bruised right knee before being activated Monday, also homered against Maholm in the sixth -- his first since July 31. Maholm has yielded a team-high 10 homers in 46 innings over eight starts.
Notes
The victory was Florida's first in five games on its 10-game road trip to Washington, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. ... Pirates C Ryan Doumit dropped a foul popup for an error with Jason Wood batting in the second, a ball that 3B Jose Castillo didn't pursue even though it was well up the line. Castillo was making only his second career start at 3B. Maholm recovered to strike out Wood. ... Uggla has three career multihomer games, two this season. ... The Pirates have lost 11 of 17 despite winning their previous two. ... Mitre has permitted only three earned runs in his last three starts, a span of 21 2-3 innings. ... Ramirez is 15-for-34 (.441) in his career against Pittsburgh.
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