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Marlins hand Mets another devastating loss in September

Sep 27, 2008 - 4:44 AM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Another late-season loss to the Florida Marlins has the New York Mets in desperation mode.

Hanley Ramirez went 4-for-5 and Josh Willingham homered and drove in two runs as the Marlins coasted to a 6-1 victory over the Mets on Friday.

Dan Uggla had an RBI groundout while Willingham homered off Mike Pelfrey (13-11) in the sixth and drew a bases-loaded walk off Aaron Heilman in the seventh.

Brian Schneider drove in the lone run for New York, which is in the midst of yet another September swoon. The Mets (88-72) have lost eight of 13 and fell one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (89-71) in the wild-card race. Milwaukee beat Chicago on Friday.

New York also fell two games back of the Philadelphia Phillies (90-70) in the National League East. Philadelphia defeated Washington on Friday. New York held a 3 1/2-game lead in the NL East on September 10.

"We really, really have put ourselves in a tough spot," New York manager Jerry Manuel said. "We are the only ones to blame for that."

The Marlins beat the Mets in the season finale last season, completing one of the worst meltdowns in major-league history. New York blew a seven-game lead with 17 games remaining.

History seems to be repeating itself.

The Mets are counting on ace Johan Santana to stem another collapse ... for a day, at least.

Santana will start Saturday on three days' rest. The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out 10 in eight innings of a 6-2 win over Chicago on Tuesday, and the Mets desperately need a similar performance.

"I think you'll see the same guy, you saw three to four days ago," Manuel said. "I'm hoping so."

"There's no doubt it," Mets shortstop Jose Reyes said of New York's confidence in Santana. "He's one of the best in the game. Every time he takes the ball, he's going to put his team in a good position to win the game."

New York will need a better offensive performance than the one they got against rookie Chris Volstad (6-4), who allowed one unearned run with four strikeouts and three walks in six innings.

The Mets went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

"We had the opportunities," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "We controlled our own destiny. Now we don't."

The Mets have to scoreboard-watch thanks to the Marlins, who took a 1-0 lead four pitches into the contest. Ramirez singled, stole second and scored on Baker's single. Uggla added a run-scoring groundout in the second and Willingham made it 3-0 with his 15th homer of the season in the sixth.

Ramirez's RBI single in the seventh made it a four-run game. Willingham drew a bases-loaded walk and Cantu capped the scoring in the eighth.

Pelfrey can't seem to beat Florida. He allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, while suffering his fourth loss in five starts against the Marlins this season.

Florida seems to revel in playing spoiler.

"When we were in Washington, guys started talking about it," Baker said. "It is our playoffs."

"I've never been in the playoffs but it's a big game no matter who we're playing," Ramirez said.