Marlins Make Three Comebacks, But Lose to Mets

A rocky start, missed scoring chances and two errors proved costly Friday in a 7-6 loss to the New York Mets

Three comebacks, two home runs and a bit of daring baserunning weren't enough for the Florida Marlins.

A rocky start, missed scoring chances and two errors proved costly Friday in a 7-6 loss to the New York Mets.

Florida erased deficits of 3-0, 4-3 and 5-4, but could never get the lead.

"I was happy the way the guys rebounded being down two or three times," manager Jack McKeon said. "We had golden opportunities to take the lead, but we just couldn't get the key hit."

Mike Stanton hit his 21st homer and Gaby Sanchez hit his 14th for the Marlins, but they went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Emilio Bonifacio extended his hitting streak to 21 games and later scored from first on a single. But he and reliever Steve Cishek committed errors that helped the Mets score two unearned runs.

The erratic Marlins fell to 0-4 on their homestand after winning nine of their previous 10 games. They're 21-30 at home this season.

David Wright came off the disabled list swinging for the Mets and delivered two RBI doubles. The five-time All-Star was activated before the game after being sidelined for two months with a back injury.

"It's good to be back," Wright said. "It's good to play the game and have fun doing it."

Wright doubled home the Mets' first run in the first inning, then put them ahead to stay with a run-scoring double in the eighth. He also scored twice.

Florida starter Chris Volstad allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings.

Bonifacio singled leading off the first inning to extend his career-best hitting streak, the longest active streak in the majors. He also surprised the Mets with some daring baserunning in the third.

Bonifacio led off with a walk and sprinted for third when Omar Infante singled on a hit-and-run play. Left fielder Lucas Duda fielded the ball, and when he lobbed a one-hop toss to second, Bonifacio took off for the plate and scored with a headfirst slide.

"I made a hard turn, looked at the ball and when I saw the throw was a one hop, I took off," Bonifacio said.

New York's Mike Pelfrey twice failed to hold the lead. He allowed four runs in six innings and has only one victory over Florida in 15 career starts.

The crowd of 21,304 included a large contingent of Mets fans, and David Wright received a big ovation when he stepped to the plate in the first inning. He responded with an RBI double.

Murphy followed with a run-scoring single, and Angel Pagan hit a sacrifice fly to put the Mets up 3-0. In the first four games of the Marlins' homestand, they've been outscored 12-1 in the first inning.

"Not the way you wanted to start," Volstad said. "I made a little adjustment after the first and I was able to fare well over the next four innings."

Third baseman Bonifacio bobbled a grounder for an error in the fourth that led to an unearned run, which scored on Carlos Beltran's bad-hop single. That put New York up 4-3.

After Sanchez homered, the Mets regained the lead on Ronny Paulino's sacrifice fly, which brought home an unearned run in the seventh.

Florida made it 5-all in the seventh on Logan Morrison's bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

In the second inning, Stanton fouled off four 3-2 pitches, then homered. He missed the bag rounding first, then retreated to touch it, and he crossed the plate with a sheepish grin.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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