Uggla's Walk-off grandslam on MLB.com/Live today

Watch Uggla win it with a grand slam

Second baseman's first walk-off homer comes off Gordon

By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

Facing a hitter's count with the winning run at third base and less than two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Dan Uggla was just looking to lift a fly ball to the outfield to win the game for the Marlins.

But that simply wouldn't be the style of the swing-from-the-heels second baseman.

Instead, Uggla, sitting dead-red on a fastball, lifted Tom Gordon's 3-1 offering 444 feet into the Wednesday night air at Dolphin Stadium and well over the left-field wall for a walk-off grand slam and a 6-2 win over the National League East division-rival Phillies on June 11.

After belting his first career walk-off homer, Uggla pointed his index finger into the air as he rounded first base and was almost in a dead sprint around the basepaths.

Then, he handed his helmet to third-base coach Bo Porter and prepared himself for the bobbing teammates awaiting him at home plate.

"I can't take full credit for that. I saw my buddy Scott Hairston do it the other night, and I thought that was pretty cool," Uggla said after the game. "I was following in his footsteps doing that."

"It's crazy. It's a really, really great feeling."

Every day from now until Spring Training, MLB.com Live will air a classic game on Baseball's Best. Uggla's walk-off grand slam against the Phillies can be seen Thursday at 2 p.m. ET.

Before the monstrous blow was delivered, it was a battle between two lankly lefties. One of them, Cole Hamels, had already established himself as one of the game's brightest young hurlers. The other, Andrew Miller, was hoping to get there.

But on this Wednesday night, both were pretty much equal.

Hamels worked eight masterful innings for the Phillies, giving up just two runs while striking out 13 batters and walking just one.

But thanks to third baseman Jorge Cantu -- who was starting at first base in this game -- the Marlins had a one-run lead by the time he exited. Cantu homered in the first inning to give Florida a 1-0 lead, then in the seventh to give his team a 2-1 advantage. In between his two solo shots, the Marlins went 5 2/3 innings without a single baserunner.

On the other side, Miller was dealing, too.

The 22-year-old lefty had by far his best performance of the year, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out seven through seven-plus innings.

"Seeing two guys like that getting after it the way they did was exciting," Uggla said. "Miller, I don't know if I've ever seen him throw the ball like that. He's had a good couple of starts, but this is a tough, tough lineup. To do what he did was pretty amazing.

"And Hamels, he stuck it to us. We're lucky we had Cantu today. He kept us in there."

The Phillies, meanwhile, were glad they had Chase Utley.

After the second baseman gave Philadelphia its first run with an RBI single in the seventh, Utley hit a fielder's-choice groundout to second base off Marlins closer Kevin Gregg, beating out the potential double play and bringing in Greg Dobbs for the tying run.

But Gordon got into trouble in a hurry in the ninth, walking Hanley Ramirez to start the inning, giving up a one-out single to Cantu, walking former Phillies player Wes Helms and delivering a fastball to Uggla that was right in his wheelhouse to end it.

"We got a win tonight, that's what mattered," Cantu said afterward. "We played an outstanding game, what can I say? We're backing up our pitchers with our defense, and we swung the bats at the right time, too."

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