MIAMI (AP) – Mike Lowell and the Florida Marlins chose the right time to pull the hidden-ball trick.

Lowell caught Luis Terrero wandering off third base in the eighth inning to stem a Diamondbacks rally, and the Marlins beat Arizona 10-5 Wednesday night.

Miguel Cabrera hit his 26th homer and Juan Pierre scored three runs for Florida, which won its second in a row after being swept in a doubleheader in Colorado on Monday.

With the Diamondbacks trailing 6-5, Terrero hit a leadoff single off Marlins closer Todd Jones. Terrero advanced on Quinton McCracken’s sacrifice and went to third on Tony Clark’s pinch-hit single.

Once Terrero took his lead off third base, Lowell sauntered over and tagged the stunned baserunner. Terrero was immediately called out by third base umpire Ed Rapuano, drawing a roar of approval from the crowd of 20,443.

Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin came out of the dugout to argue the call, to no avail.

Rookie Jason Vargas (3-0) pitched five solid innings to win his second straight start. He allowed one run on four hits while striking out five.

Lowell pulled the same hidden-ball trick last season on Brian Schneider to escape a bases-loaded, two-out jam on Sept. 15 against Montreal. After Schneider stopped at third on a single, Lowell faked a throw to the mound. When the Expos’ runner left the bag, Lowell tagged Schneider for the final out.

Lowell also contributed with the bat Wednesday, hitting a two-run double off Brad Halsey (8-8) in the bottom of the fifth to cap a three-run outburst and put the Marlins up 6-1.

Troy Glaus keyed Arizona’s rally in the seventh with a three-run double off Guillermo Mota, after left-hander Ron Villone walked the bases loaded. Glaus advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Shawn Green’s sacrifice fly later to draw the Diamondbacks to within 6-5.

After Terrero’s blunder the following inning, the Marlins broke it open with four runs in the eighth, capped by Alex Gonzalez’s three-run base-clearing double.

Jones completed his two-inning outing in the ninth for his 24th save in 26 opportunities.

Pierre stole his 39th and 40th bases of the season and reached safely in each of his first four plate appearances. He hit a leadoff single in the first and stole second. After advancing on Luis Castillo’s grounder to first he scored Florida’s first run when Halsey’s 58-footer bounced off catcher Kelly Stinnett for a wild pitch.

Halsey fielded Pierre’s leadoff bunt in the third but had no one to throw to when first base was left uncovered. One out later, Cabrera hit a 421-foot shot over the left-field scoreboard to make it 3-0.

Acquired from Seattle on July 31, Villone struggled in his Dolphins Stadium debut. After striking out Chris Snyder to begin the seventh, he walked Craig Counsell, Royce Clayton and Luis Gonzalez to load the bases. Mota relieved and Glaus slammed a drive over Pierre’s head for a bases-clearing double.

Mota threw a wild pitch – one of five in the game between the two teams – that allowed Glaus to advance to third. Green flied out to left and Glaus scored just ahead of Cabrera’s throw to the plate.

Clayton drove in Arizona’s first run with a double in the fifth.

Notes: Halsey hadn’t allowed a home run in 37 innings before Cabrera’s homer. … The Marlins have scored first in 19 of their last 22 games, including each of their last five. … Marlins RF Chris Aguila popped out to 2B Craig Counsell in each of his first three at-bats. … Juan Encarnacion, who missed his seventh straight start because of a sore wrist, replaced Aguila in the field in the eighth.

AP-ES-08-10-05 2247EDT

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