ENCARNACION'S PAIR OF 3-RUN HRS KEY WILD MARLINS COMEBACK
Fish Score 8 Over Final 3 Frames to Beat Sagging
Mets
NEW YORK, June 26 (AP) - Juan Encarnacion hit two three-run home runs, the
second of which was the game-winner in the top of the ninth, as the Florida
Marlins staged an improbable late-inning rally to win their fifth straight game,
10-9, over the slumping New York Mets at soggy Shea Stadium. The win moved
the Marlins into the National League wildcard lead, 1/2 game over the
Philadelphia Phillies, who lost to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
The game marked the first time a National League team had rallied from a deficit
of at least seven runs in the seventh inning or later and only the second time
the feat had been accomplished in nearly 1200 major league games thus far this
season. The Toronto Blue Jays trailed the Kansas City Royals 13-5 in the
eighth inning on April 27 at SkyDome but rallied to win, 14-13, in 11 innings.
Encarnacion became the first Marlins player to drive in six runs in a single
game this season, and his club needed every one of them.
The Mets took the lead in the first inning when Roger Cedeno led off the frame
with a double and eventually scored on a passed ball. The Marlins tied the
game in the fourth when Encarnacion walked and ultimately was plated by Miguel
Cabrera's single.
New York began to pull away in the bottom of the fourth inning, taking a 3-1
lead on Jason Phillips' two-run double. But they appeared to seize firm
control with a four-run fifth. Starter Aaron Heilman started things off
with a single off Dontrelle Willis, and Cedeno walked. Joe McEwing
followed by bouncing a single through the box, scoring Heilman from second and
giving the Mets a 4-1 lead, with Cedeno taking third. That ended Willis'
day; he was replaced by Allen Levrault. With the infield in, Ty Wigginton
grounded to short but the throw to the plate was late and Cedeno scored to make
it 5-1. Jeromy Burnitz than walked to load the bases. Phillips
popped to short to finally give the Marlins an out, but Vance Wilson's ground
ball single to left scored McEwing to give the Mets a 6-1 advantage.
Tsuyoshi Shinjo's sacrifice fly to right scored Wigginton and the Mets lead was
now six runs.
The Marlins got one run back in the top of the sixth on Mike Lowell's lead-off
homer but the Mets got that tally back plus one in the bottom half of the inning
following a brief rain delay. Pinch hitter Cliff Floyd led off with a
single and was doubled to third by Cedeno. Again the Marlins brought the
infield in and again they got the grounder they were looking for. This
time it was McEwing bouncing to Luis Castillo but the second baseman had trouble
gripping the wet ball and his throw was up the line a bit. The play was
scored as a fielder's choice; Floyd crossed the plate and it was now 8-2.
Wigginton's sacrifice fly made it 9-2 and the Mets appeared to have the game
well in hand.
The comeback began in the seventh inning. John Franco came on to pitch for
the Mets and ran into trouble almost immediately. He walked Miguel Cabrera
on a 3-2 pitch, but retired pinch hitter Mike Mordecai on an infield pop.
Juan Pierre grounded to shortstop but Jose Reyes kicked the ball for an
error. Castillo followed with a single to left, filling the bases.
Ivan Rodriguez then looped a single to shallow right, scoring Cabrera and Pierre
to cut the New York lead to 9-4. David Weathers came on to replace Franco
and retired Lowell on a routine fly to left. That brought Encarnacion to
the plate and he deposited an 0-2 Weathers mistake into the empty bleachers in
left-center field for a three-run home run. Suddenly the Marlins were back
in the game, trailing only 9-7.
Kevin Olsen held the Mets off the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh and
Weathers did the same to the Marlins in the top of the eighth. Miguel
Tejera came on for Florida in the bottom of the eighth and allowed a one-out
single to McEwing but induced Wigginton to roll into an inning-ending double
play.
A weary Armando Benitez was summoned from the bullpen by Mets manager Art Howe
to close out the game in the ninth but it didn't go well. Castillo led off
with a single to right-center and was forced at second on Rodriguez's fielder's
choice grounder. Lowell then doubled to the right-center field gap,
chasing Rodriguez to third. That brought Encarnacion to the plate and, on
a 1-1 Benitez slider, he deposited the baseball in almost exactly the same spot
as in his previous plate appearance two innings earlier, giving the Marlins a
10-9 lead. It's the second time this season that a player has hit 3-run
home runs in consecutive at bats--Jose Guillen of the Reds did it in a win over
Houston on April 10--and the sixth time this season that a major league player
has hit two three-run homers in the same game.
Braden Looper came on for the Marlins in the bottom of the ninth and retired the
Mets in order to record his seventh consecutive save.
It was the third straight loss for New York. The Mets have now dropped 40
of their last 47 and haven't won consecutive games since taking two in a row on
May 1-2.
6/26/2003, Fla03-NYM03, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Marlins 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 0 3 10 11 0 7 2 2003 Mets 1 0 0 2 4 2 0 0 0 9 12 2 6 1 Marlins AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Pierre cf 4 1 1 0 .290 Cedeno rf 4 3 2 0 .281 Castillo,L 2b 5 1 2 0 .322 McEwing 2b 4 2 2 2 .240 Rodriguez,I c 5 2 1 2 .252 Wigginton 3b 4 1 0 2 .245 Lowell 3b 5 2 2 1 .289 Burnitz lf 3 1 2 0 .290 Encarnacion rf 4 3 2 6 .298 Perez,Ti lf 1 0 0 0 .273 Lee,De 1b 5 0 0 0 .285 Phillips,JL 1b 5 0 1 2 .281 Gonzalez,A ss 2 0 1 0 .295 Wilson,V c 4 0 2 1 .236 Cabrera,M lf 4 1 1 1 .190 Clark,T ph 1 0 0 0 .191 Willis p 2 0 1 0 .190 Shinjo cf 3 0 0 1 .218 Levrault p 0 0 0 0 .000 Reyes,J ss 4 0 1 0 .157 Almanza p 0 0 0 0 .000 Heilman p 2 1 1 0 .500 Mordecai ph 1 0 0 0 .121 Floyd ph 1 1 1 0 .279 Olsen p 0 0 0 0 .000 Franco,Jo p 0 0 0 0 .000 Hollandsworth ph 1 0 0 0 .250 Weathers p 1 0 0 0 .000 Tejera p 0 0 0 0 .125 Benitez p 0 0 0 0 1.000 Looper,B p 0 0 0 0 1.000 37 9 12 8 38 10 11 10 Marlins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Willis 4.0 6 6 5 2 5 74 49 3.81 Levrault 1.1 3 3 3 1 0 33 20 9.12 Almanza 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 6.92 Olsen 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 11 10 2.25 Tejera W 8-3 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 16 12 4.25 Looper,B S 20 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 11 8 3.89 9.0 12 9 8 3 5 153 104 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Heilman 6.0 4 2 2 3 2 100 55 3.00 Franco,Jo H 3 0.1 2 4 1 1 0 16 10 6.23 Weathers 1.2 2 1 1 0 2 28 18 2.93 Benitez BS 4, L 1-6 1.0 3 3 3 0 0 19 13 3.38 9.0 11 10 7 4 4 163 96 Fla: Mordecai batted for Almanza in the 7th Hollandsworth batted for Olsen in the 8th NYM: Floyd batted for Heilman in the 6th Perez,Ti inserted at lf in the 9th Clark,T batted for Wilson,V in the 9th E-McEwing, Reyes,J. 2B-Lowell(28), Cedeno 2(17), Phillips,JL(8). HR-Lowell(23), Encarnacion 2(8). RBI-Rodriguez,I 2(51), Lowell(66), Encarnacion 6(48), Cabrera,M(1), McEwing 2(12), Wigginton 2(39), Phillips,JL 2(12), Wilson,V(13), Shinjo(6). SB-Pierre(29), Reyes,J(2). CS-Pierre. K-Pierre, Castillo,L, Cabrera,M, Hollandsworth, Wigginton, Burnitz, Shinjo, Reyes,J, Heilman. BB-Pierre, Encarnacion, Gonzalez,A, Cabrera,M, Cedeno, McEwing, Burnitz. SF-Wigginton, Shinjo. HBP-Gonzalez,A 2. PB-Rodriguez,I. HB-Heilman, Benitez. GWRBI: Encarnacion Temperature: 77, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: in from center at 14 MPH, Rain Delays: 13 minutes. Attendance: 18,825 Game Time: 3:11