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Royals hang on to edge Marlins

Fri 16th, May 2008

Miami, FL (Sports Network) - Brett Tomko hurled six innings of two-run ball and Miguel Olivo blasted a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Florida Marlins, 7-6, in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Dolphin Stadium.

Tomko (2-4) allowed just five hits and one walk, striking out four to snap a personal four-game losing streak and extended the Royals team winning streak to five.

"We pounded some runs out, which was nice," Tomko said. "The home run Miggy (catcher Miguel Olivo) hit was a big home run late in the game, so it's nice to get on the 'W' side and get back on track."

Olivo was 2-for-4 scoring two runs with a stolen base and Jose Guillen was 3- for-4 with a run scored and two RBI.

Florida starter Andrew Miller (3-3) allowed four runs - two earned - on five hits in five innings. He struck out six for the Marlins, who are riding a four-game losing streak after ripping off seven straight wins.

Dan Uggla went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI and a walk while Wes Helms and Jeremy Hermida had two RBI each.

"We definitely gave it away," Helms said. "It wasn't one person, it was all of us. It just didn't seem like we were into it tonight. We swung the bat well. We made some plays and pitched well, but it was ugly. We just got to shake it off."

Florida staked a comeback bid in the eighth with two one-out walks off KC's Ramon Ramirez. Jimmy Gobble came on and got the second out, but unleashed a wild pitch with Helms standing in, moving the runners to second and third. Helms then belted a double to the gap in right plating two to make it 6-4.

Kansas City erased one of those runs in the ninth off Marlins reliever Renyel Pinto with an Alex Gordon RBI single.

Royals closer Joakim Soria came on for the ninth and gave up a two-run homer to dead center, hanging a curveball to Hermida after Cody Ross walked with one out. Soria came back to get both Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu to strike out swinging, holding on to record his 11th save.

Kansas City started things off in the first with a one-out, two-run single from Guillen.

Florida came right back in the second with a monster home run over the scoreboard in left from Uggla, his 13th of the season, to cut the lead to one.

The Royals answered in the fourth with two unearned runs on a Ramirez throwing error on a Tomko grounder and a bases loaded walk to Joey Gathright to extend their lead to 4-1.

The Marlins got one back in the bottom half on a two-out RBI double from Matt Treanor.

Olivo stroked a two-run homer off Florida reliever Justin Miller in the eighth, extending Kansas City's lead to 6-2.

Game Notes

Soria's two earned runs in the ninth were his first this season after 16 2/3 innings of scoreless work..The Royals opened a lengthy 11-game road trip on Friday against the Marlins, Red Sox and Blue Jays...The Royals were 10-8 in interleague play in 2007, compared to Florida's 9-9 mark versus the Junior Circuit a year ago...Kansas City went 2-1 against the Marlins last season at Kauffman Stadium, while Florida won two of three games at Kansas City during the 2002 campaign...Kansas City's first ever visit to South Florida completed the cycle of National League franchises visited in team history...Royals catcher John Buck was placed on the bereavement list prior to the game due to a family health situation and recalled catcher Matt Tupman from Triple-A Omaha...Saturday's scheduled starters are Brian Bannister (4-4) for Kansas City and Scott Olsen (4-1) for Florida.

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