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Willingham leads Marlins over the Mets

May 2, 2007 - 2:54 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- A big night for Josh Willingham and five strong innings from Ricky Nolasco have the Florida Marlins looking healthy again.

Willingham homered, tripled and drove in a career-high five runs and Nolasco pitched effectively in his return from the disabled list as the Marlins defeated the New York Mets for the second straight night, 5-2, on Tuesday.

Center fielder Alfredo Amezaga made a pair of key defensive plays in the fourth inning for Florida, which has won seven of its last 10 games after a six-game losing streak and will try to sweep the three-game series on Wednesday afternoon.

Willingham delivered a three-run triple in the first off Mike Pelfrey (0-3) and belted a two-run homer in the eighth off Aaron Heilman. Willingham drove in four runs twice, including April 7 against Philadelphia.

"It's a combination of feeling good at the plate, getting good hitter's counts and getting good pitches to hit," said Willingham, who hit two other balls to the warning track for outs.

Nolasco (1-0), activated off the DL prior to the game, allowed one run and six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The righthander made his only other appearance on April 6 before being sidelined with an elbow injury.

"It's tough watching other guys play when you can't contribute. I took my time and made sure everything was right (before coming back)," Nolasco said.

Four relievers combined to allow one run and five hits over the final four innings. Former Met Henry Owens worked around a pair of ninth-inning singles for his third save and second in as many nights.

The Marlins did not issue a walk for the first time since August 28 against Milwaukee.

Pelfrey was ineffective in his last two starts and lasted just three innings and allowed six runs in a loss to Colorado on Wednesday. The rookie righthander again got off to a shaky start, hitting Dan Uggla and walking Miguel Cabrera and Mike Jacobs with one out in the first. Willingham then cleared the bases when he sliced a triple to right field.

Pelfrey settled down the rest of the way, allowing just the three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.

"I think my status is on the line every time I start," Pelfrey said. Despite the slow start, the strong finish earned the confidence of manager Willie Randolph.

"Pelfrey pitched well after he settled down," Randolph said. "That showed me something."

David Wright was in a 1-for-11 slump that dropped his average to .244, but a move up to second in the batting order for the third time this season paid off as he was involved in both New York runs. He had three hits, including his first homer in 93 at-bats dating to last season.

"I just took a deep breath. Hitting is so much more mental," Wright said. "It's all about confidence."

Wright homered off Nolasco to lead off the fourth and cut Florida's lead to 3-1. The Mets nearly had back-to-back homers, but Amezaga chased down a blast by Carlos Beltran with a leaping catch at the wall.

Later in the inning, Amezaga easily threw out Carlos Delgado at home while trying to score on a single by Paul Lo Duca.

"Amezaga has to go up there with Willingham as one of the game's heroes," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Wright doubled in the sixth and scored on a single by Delgado.

The Mets put runners on first and third with no out in the first but failed to score. Delgado struck out and Jose Reyes was caught at home on the back end of a double steal to complete a double play. Reyes singled in the first, but struck out in his next three times at-bat before flying out to center field with two runners on base to end the game.