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Willingham, Cabrera take advantage of Mets' bullpen in win

Aug 12, 2007 - 3:42 AM By Doug Mittler PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - The Florida Marlins waited out Tom Glavine and, for the second straight night, found some holes in the New York Mets' bullpen.

Miguel Cabrera snapped a tie with a two-run single in the eighth inning and Josh Willingham hit his first career grand slam and tied a personal best with five RBI as the Marlins rallied for a 7-5 victory on Saturday.

Right fielder Cody Ross threw out what would have been the go-ahead run at the plate in the seventh inning for the Marlins, who will try to sweep the three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

Glavine was charged with two runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in his first appearance at Shea Stadium since he defeated the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field last Sunday to become the 23rd pitcher to record 300 victories.

"We should have had more runs early. He did a great job of pitching out of trouble," said Willingham, whose previous five-RBI game came here on May 1.

"It was good that we came through late."

A two-run double by Hanley Ramirez off Mets closer Billy Wagner in the ninth inning gave the Marlins a 4-3 win on Friday. One night later, the Marlins did their damage against Aaron Heilman (7-4) and Guillermo Mota.

David Wright had his ninth career multi-homer game and drove in three runs for the Mets, who have lost five of their last seven games and saw their lead over the Atlanta Braves cut to 2 1/2 games in the National League East.

"It's easy for a fan to point a finger at our bullpen, but our offense needs to do a better job," Wright said. "We had a team down and we need to bury them."

The Florida rallied against Heilman. The righthander walked Ross, hit pinch hitter Jeremy Hermida with a pitch and walked Alejandro De Aza as Florida loaded the bases with two outs.

"You can't put yourself in a position where you have a hitter like that coming up with the bases loaded," Heilman said. "I didn't get the job done."

Cabrera then lined a 1-2 pitch for a two-run single to right-center field that gave the Marlins a 7-5 lead.

"I'm glad he threw me a fastball," Cabrera said. "It was in the zone."

Trailing, 3-1, in the seventh, the Marlins took the lead with four runs.

Ross singled to open the seventh and Mota replaced Glavine one out later. Ramirez greeted him with a bloop single and Cabrera was intentionally walked with two outs. Willingham then belted a 2-0 pitch over the left-field fence to give Florida a 5-3 lead.

The Mets rallied to tie it in their half of the seventh and nearly went ahead. Lastings Milledge scored when catcher Miguel Olivo threw wildly to first on a bunt single by Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo tied it at 5-5 with an RBI groundout.

Wright followed with a fly ball that Ross caught in foul territory in right field before throwing a strike to get Reyes at the plate.

"I don't know if I got him," said Olivo, who reached back to make the tag. "I put my glove there."

Justin Miller (4-0) earned the win despite allowed two runs in the seventh. Kevin Gregg pitched the ninth to record his 26th save in 29 chances.

The Mets made some key defensive plays of their own.

Willingham had an RBI single in the sixth to make it 2-1 while putting runners on the corners with no outs. Dan Uggla followed with a slow roller toward the right of the mound that Glavine grabbed and quickly tossed home to get a sliding Cabrera at the plate.

The Marlins also loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth before Glavine got Uggla and Mike Jacobs to ground into force plays at the plate and Olivo to ground out.

Wright belted a two-run homer off Scott Olsen to left-center field in the fourth and added a solo shot to nearly the identical spot in the sixth to give New York a 3-1 lead.

Olsen allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.