"All week, Jorge Cantu had heard question after question about his RBI streak. But when he came to bat with the bases empty in the fifth inning Wednesday night, he insists he wasn't thinking about trying to make history.

He just wanted to get on base, to help pad the Marlins' lead. Then, in a split second, he saw a hanging slider and got all of it, sending a long home run into the left field seats at Sun Life Stadium.

Just like that, he not only gave the Marlins insurance for an eventual 5-3 win over the Reds, he became the first player in history to collect an RBI in each of his team's first nine games of a season.

"It hit me when I was rounding the bases," said Cantu, who also has a hit in all nine Marlins games this year. "It's a little bit surreal. It's like, 'Wow I've accomplished something really big.' "

How big? It's not Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak but it's still impressive. The RBI became an official statistic in 1920. A year later, George "High Pockets" Kelly of the New York Giants opened the 1921 season with both a hit and RBI in his team's first eight games.

That record stood for 89 years, until Cantu got off to his white-hot start last week.

"Coming to the dugout (after the home run), my teammates were all waiting for me," he said. "All the joy on their faces, I couldn't have done it without them.

"They get on base for me. That's why I got the RBI. I'll just keep thriving, keep pushing myself for more records."

And he seems to be within striking distance of more history."