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Grand slam by Beltran in ninth propels Mets past Marlins

Aug 30, 2008 - 4:17 AM MIAMI (Ticker) -- With Carlos Delgado carrying much of the offensive load for the New York Mets since the All-Star break, Carlos Beltran picked up some of the slack.

Beltran blasted a grand slam off Kevin Gregg with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Mets a dramatic 5-4 win over the Florida Marlins on Friday.

Gregg (6-8) retired the first two batters before Luis Castillo singled up the middle. David Wright followed with a base hit to left field and Delgado was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

"The mentality right now is we cannot take anything for granted," Beltran said. "We really have to go out and battle. It doesn't mater how far back we are in the game."

Batting from the left side, Beltran deposited the first pitch he saw deep into the right field seats for his eighth career grand slam, giving the Mets a 5-2 advantage.

"It's a situation that's killing the guys right now," Gregg said. "They (the Marlins) are playing good baseball (and I) screwed it up. The last few outings have been horrible."

Without closer Billy Wagner, who has been sidelined since August 2 with left elbow problems, New York was forced to sweat out another close call in the bottom half. Luis Ayala surrendered two runs and four hits but stranded the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position to notch his third save.

"That's a big win for us because we appeared lethargic," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said. "We didn't appear in a fighting mood. Offensively, I thought we should have been a little better."

The Mets continued their first-inning success, jumping to a 1-0 lead when Jose Reyes scored on a sacrifice fly by Beltran. The offense stalled from there, however, as Chris Volstad cruised.

The righthander pitched 6 1/3 stellar innings, allowing one run, five hits and three walks while striking out five.

Florida tied the contest at 1-1 in the second against Oliver Perez on a home run by Josh Willingham. A sacrifice fly by Jorge Cantu in the next inning gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish until Beltran's heroics.

"I don't know if there are degrees of hurt in a loss," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "But it's a loss and we had a chance to (get back) in a game and we didn't do it. I like the way they battled."

Perez went six innings for New York, allowing two runs, three hits and five walks. Joe Smith (2-3) threw a scoreless eighth for the win.