The Kansas City Royals take the opening game of their weekend series with the Florida Marlins, winning 6-2 Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The Marlins struck first on a 3 rd inning solo home run by Miguel Olivo, but the Royals tied it up in the bottom of the inning.

Kansas City then scored two runs in the 6 th and three in the 7 th to put the game out of reach. Florida added a run in the 9 th to make the score 6-2.

The Royals pounded out 13 hits. David DeJesus led the hit parade, going 3 for 5. Mike Sweeney went 1 for 4 but drove in three runs. Emil Brown went 2 for 4 with a pair of runs batted in.

It was another fine outing for Kansas City starter and winning pitcher Gil Meche (4-6) who finally got some run support. He pitched 8 strong innings, giving up one earned run on six hits, while striking out three batters. Octavio Dotel pitched 2/3 of an inning to earn his fourth save. Sergio Mitre (2-3) took the loss.

The Royals (27-41) and Marlins (32-36) play again Saturday night at the K. Jorge De La Rosa (4-6) goes to the mound for the Royals against Florida’s Rick Vanden Hurk (1-2).