SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A.J. Burnett homered and pitched into the eighth inning, and Miguel Cabrera connected for the third straight game to lead the Florida Marlins past the San Francisco Giants 4-1 Sunday.

Juan Encarnacion added a two-run shot as Florida took two of three to win its first series in San Francisco since 1997, when the Marlins earned the NL wild card and won the World Series.

Cabrera led off the second with a drive to left, his 23rd homer and third of the series. He also had a fourth-inning single for Florida, which won 16-4 Saturday night in the team’s highest offensive output this season.

Carlos Delgado singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games as the Marlins concluded a 10-game road trip in impressive fashion.

Cabrera had quite a series in San Francisco, going 7-for-10 with five RBIs and six runs.

Burnett (7-6), whose name has come up in trade talk for weeks, won his second straight start in his first outing at SBC Park since 2001. He hit his third career homer on the first pitch he saw from Kevin Correia (1-2) with one out in the third.

The Giants beat struggling lefty Dontrelle Willis on Friday night, then lost to Josh Beckett and Burnett, whom Giants manager Felipe Alou said “could be one of the best pitchers in the game and probably will be.”

Burnett got the Giants to ground into double plays in the first and second innings and retired eight straight batters during one stretch and 13 of the final 16 he faced. He didn’t allow an earned run, gave up six hits, struck out four and walked one in 7 1-3 innings.

Jim Mecir got Lance Niekro to ground into a double play to end the eighth with runners on the corners, and Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances. Florida turned four double plays, including one to end the game.

The Marlins have Monday off, then begin a grueling stretch of 21 games in 20 days – including a doubleheader with Colorado to make up games postponed April 27-28 because of weather. Their next off day is Aug. 15.

Moises Alou had three hits for the Giants against his former team, which committed consecutive errors in the third that led to an unearned run on Edgardo Alfonzo’s RBI single.

Correia’s 6 1-3 innings were the longest outing of his career, but the 24-year-old right-hander could be headed to the bullpen this week.

The Giants plan to use either Correia – who has experience as a reliever – or Saturday’s starter, Brad Hennessey, out of the pen next weekend in Milwaukee when demoted starter Kirk Rueter returns to the rotation. San Francisco needs a right-handed long man.

Notes: Burnett’s homer was his fourth hit of the year and 28th of his career. He is 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in five career starts vs. San Francisco. … Florida’s Juan Pierre stole his 31st base in the fifth. … Injured San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds celebrated his 41st birthday, but he wasn’t at the stadium. There still is no timetable for his return following three operations on his right knee since Jan. 31. … Giants SS Omar Vizquel got the day off. … The Giants activated CF Marquis Grissom from the 15-day disabled list before the game and placed OF Alex Sanchez on the 15-day DL with a sprained left elbow. … The waterfront ballpark sold out for the 16th time this year.

AP-ES-07-24-05 1841EDT


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