Final
Johnson drives in 4 runs as Marlins rout Mets
Sep 11, 2009 - 4:18 AM By HOWIE RUMBERG AP Sports WriterNEW YORK(AP) -- Nick Johnson has hobbled through some pretty good at-bats since returning from the disabled list, and his teammates have noticed his effort.
Johnson had a pair of two-run singles Thursday night and the Florida Marlins beat the listless New York Mets 13-4 to gain ground on the NL East-leading Phillies.
"That just tells you what kind of gamer he is," Dan Uggla said. "He's just a clutch hitter."
Since returning from a right hamstring strain on Sept. 3, Johnson has at least one hit in each of his six games and has driven in nine runs despite noticeably struggling on the bases.
"It's been a while for me but this is what it's all about," Johnson said about being in a playoff race. "I'm not pushing it. Even though I'm feeling better out there I'm just trying to keep the speed and go from first to third at that speed, do the treatment and try to stay out there."
Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross each had three hits and two RBIs for the Marlins, who completed their first sweep of the Mets since taking four straight Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2004, in New York. Uggla hit his 27th homer in the third inning.
Florida has enjoyed its September trips to New York the last couple years. Spoilers in 2007 and '08, the Marlins twice dashed the Mets' playoff hopes on the last day with victories. This year they came to the Big Apple with postseason aspirations of their own.
The Marlins wrapped up a 5-1 trip and moved within five games of Philadelphia, which lost 8-7 at Washington. They also remained 5 1/2 back of the wild card-leading Rockies with 22 games remaining, including six against the Phillies.
"It's a fun part of the year if you're doing it," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said of scoreboard watching.
Johnson delivered in the seventh and eighth as the Marlins missed their season high for runs by one and amassed 16 hits.
The Mets (62-78) fell 16 games under .500 for the first time since finishing 71-91 in 2004.
Playing in front of a Citi Field crowd that was about half the announced attendance of 37,620, the Mets showed why they've come apart this season.
Bobby Parnell walked consecutive batters with the bases loaded after an error by shortstop Anderson Hernandez and Angel Pagan forgot how many outs there were while running the bases. Luis Castillo had another adventure at second base and New York pitchers didn't have a 1-2-3 inning until the ninth.
The Mets held a 30-minute meeting following batting practice then fell behind quickly. The Marlins led 3-0 by the time the 19-minute, 40-pitch first inning was over.
"Every time I have a meeting we seem to play that way so I guess we won't have anymore meetings," manager Jerry Manuel said.
Chris Coghlan hustled for a leadoff double when left fielder Nick Evans and center fielder Pagan were slow to get to his soft liner in the gap. Parnell (3-8) walked Johnson and Ramirez reached on Hernandez's error to load the bases. Parnell then walked two batters for a 2-0 lead.
The Mets lead the majors with 19 bases-loaded walks - three by Parnell - two more than Texas. They've also hit two batters with the bases loaded, according to STATS LLC.
"I haven't been as consistent as I wanted to be," said Parnell, who walked five. "To come out in the first inning and not throw strikes is aggravating."
Ross added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead on a fly to shallow center that appeared to be catchable. He also had an RBI double in the fifth.
Rookie left-hander Sean West, who hit a ground-rule double into the New York bullpen in right-center and scored on Ramirez's single in the fourth, scuffled in the bottom half, giving up two runs. He was pulled two batters into the fifth, allowing four runs and six hits. Burke Badenhop (7-4) pitched two innings.
"One of these days, I'll stick around for seven (innings)," West said. "It's all about the Ws. I'm not worried about my performance."
Pagan turned a routine flyout into an inning-ending double play in the seventh. Castillo spun around aimlessly looking for a ball at his feet after diving for Uggla's grounder in the eighth, aiding a three-run inning.
NOTES: Each team struck out 10 times. ... Mets RHP John Maine (sore shoulder) will make his first start since June 6 on Sunday in a doubleheader opener at Philadelphia. ... Marlins RHP Rick VandenHurk had his normal bullpen session after leaving Tuesday's start with a sore back muscle. He hopes to make his start Sunday against Washington.
- Mets 4, Marlins 13 - FINAL
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Coghlan lf 6 2 3 0 0 0 1 .308
N Johnson 1b 4 1 2 4 2 0 0 .304
B Hayes pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286
D Meyer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
T Wood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
H Ramirez ss 6 1 3 2 0 0 2 .359
A Gonzal
Sep 10 10:30 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NICK JOHNSON SCORED WES HELMS AND CAMERON MAYBIN
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, N JOHNSON ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 13
NY METS 4 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: H RAMIREZ (.360, 3-FOR-5, 2 RBI)
Marlins 13, Mets 4 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 10 10:06 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WES HELMS SCORED DAN UGGLA AND JOHN BAKER
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, W HELMS ON FIRST, C MAYBIN ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 11
NY METS 4 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: C COGHLAN (.309, 3-FOR-5)
Marlins 11, Mets 4 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 10 10:04 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY HANLEY RAMIREZ SCORED CHRIS COGHLAN
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, H RAMIREZ ON FIRST, N JOHNSON ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 9
NY METS 4 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: J CANTU (.283, 0-FOR-3, BB, RBI)
Marlins 9, Mets 4 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 10 9:37 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NICK JOHNSON SCORED ROSS GLOAD AND CODY ROSS
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, N JOHNSON ON FIRST, C COGHLAN ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 8
NY METS 4 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: H RAMIREZ (.359, 2-FOR-4, RBI)
Marlins 8, Mets 4 Top 7, 0 OutsSep 10 9:35 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY FERNANDO TATIS SCORED DAVID WRIGHT
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, F TATIS ON FIRST, J FRANCOEUR ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 6
NY METS 4 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: N EVANS (.232, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Marlins 6, Mets 4 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 10 9:05 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
FORCE OUT BY DAVID WRIGHT SCORED WILSON VALDEZ
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D WRIGHT ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 6
NY METS 3 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: J FRANCOEUR (.268, 2-FOR-2)
Marlins 6, Mets 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 10 9:00 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY CODY ROSS SCORED DAN UGGLA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C ROSS ON SECOND, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 6
NY METS 2 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: C MAYBIN (.224, 0-FOR-2)
Marlins 6, Mets 2 Top 5, 0 OutsSep 10 8:44 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY OMIR SANTOS SCORED JEFF FRANCOEUR
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, N EVANS ON FIRST, F TATIS ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5
NY METS 2 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A HERNANDEZ (.254, 0-FOR-1)
Marlins 5, Mets 2 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 10 8:38 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY NICK EVANS SCORED DAVID WRIGHT
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, N EVANS ON FIRST, F TATIS ON SECOND, J
FRANCOEUR ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5
NY METS 1 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR NY METS: O SANTOS (.261, 0-FOR-1)
Marlins 5, Mets 1 Bot 4, 0 OutsSep 10 8:37 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
FORCE OUT BY HANLEY RAMIREZ SCORED SEAN WEST
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, H RAMIREZ ON FIRST, C COGHLAN ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 5
NY METS 0 TOP,4TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: J CANTU (.285, 0-FOR-1, BB, RBI)
Marlins 5, Mets 0 Top 4, 0 OutsSep 10 8:20 PM - NL
AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY DAN UGGLA (27) TO LEFT CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 3RD OFF BOBBY PARNELL.
CURRENT SCORE: FLORIDA 4, NY METS 0
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: C ROSS (.268, 1-FOR-1, RBI)
Marlins 4, Mets 0 Top 3, 0 OutsSep 10 7:59 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
FLORIDA 3 3 2 0
NY METS 0 0 1 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: FLA - SEAN WEST
NYM - BOBBY PARNELL
DUE UP FOR NY METS: A PAGAN (.306, 6 HR, 28 RBI)
L CASTILLO (.313, 1 HR, 35 RBI)
D WRIGHT (.318, 8 HR, 59 RBI)
Marlins 3, Mets 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 10 7:30 PM
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