Pinch-hit homer propels Marlins to win

Wes Helms came off the bench in the bottom of the seventh and blasted an 0-2 curveball over the left-field fence to give the Marlins a two-run lead they wouldn't relinquish. Three relievers combined to throw three scoreless innings en route to a 7-3 win in front of 16,214 fans Saturday night at Dolphin Stadium.

The win, which saw starter Scott Olsen get a no-decision after pitching six innings, snapped the Marlins' season-long four-game losing streak and the Royals' five-game winning streak.

But with runners on first and second and nobody out, Helms wanted to bunt with his team trailing, 3-2, even though he was never given that sign. The 6-foot-4 first baseman squared around on the first pitch, but it was a ball.

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Thank goodness for that.

"I guess that negative turned into a positive," said Helms, whose pinch-hit home run was the sixth in his career. "I'm a guy that takes pride in doing things right on the field and off the field, and I feel bad even hitting the home run because it looks bad on my part.

"When you get a pinch-hit homer, it definitely means more inside for me."

Usually, players who miss signs get fined by their manager.

So can Helms expect his pockets to be a little thinner in the series finale against the Royals on Sunday?

"No, because of the outcome," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I'm one of those guys."

Helms wasn't the only first baseman to go deep.

Four batters later, Mike Jacobs -- starting his first game after missing eight straight with a left quadriceps injury -- hit a two-run homer to left-center to give the Marlins a 7-3 lead.

After the game, Jacobs admitted to feeling some jitters.

"You kind of get out there, you're a little nervous," Jacobs said. "Any time you get out there after an injury, you don't want to push it too hard, because you just want to be cautious.

"I don't want to be nervous too many more times. I'm not a nerves guy."

A day after giving up three runs in four innings, Logan Kensing, Matt Lindstrom and Kevin Gregg combined to score three scoreless innings, with Kensing recording the win after a shutout seventh frame.

Prior to the game, Gregg approached Gonzalez and asked him, "How do I get on that list?"

"What list are you talking about?" asked Gonzalez.

"The list to get in the game," Gregg replied.

And after Kensing and Lindstrom opened the door for a lead in the ninth, Gregg was finally able to get back on the mound after not pitching since May 11.

"I was a little worried about Gregg because he hadn't pitched in [six] days," Gonzalez said about his closer, who retired three of the four hitters he faced in the ninth. "But I have confidence in all those guys, and they were terrific [on Saturday]."

In his six full innings, Olsen allowed three runs while giving up seven hits, five walks -- two intentional -- and striking out three.

Olsen said his biggest mistake was a pitch he left up to Billy Butler, which he drove in the right-field gap to give the Royals a one-run lead in the fifth after the Marlins had tied it at 2 in the bottom of the fourth.

"When we score runs like [in the fourth inning], I like to go out and have a shutdown inning because we were starting to get to [Royals starter Brian Bannister] a little bit," said Olsen, who threw 87 pitches on the night and gave up two runs in the third off an RBI double by Jose Guillen. "But our offense did a great job. They eventually came through for us with those two big home runs."

A day before making his first start since May 7, Jacobs said he probably wasn't going to be hitting any triples this year because of his injured leg.

That was quickly dispelled in the fourth when he drove one in the warning track in right field. Outfielders David DeJesus and Joey Gathright collided a few feet in front of the fence, and the ball trickled along the grass, resulting in a stand-up, RBI triple for Jacobs -- his first of the year.

"We play in a big stadium," said Jacobs, who just missed a home run for the second time in 11 days. "I'll take the triple any day."

Alden Gonzalez is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.