The Cardiac Fish struck again Wednesday, this time biting the supposedly much-improved Mets bullpen and Johan Santana on Wednesday.
Cody Ross hit a two-run single off J.J. Putz in the eighth inning, Jorge Cantu cracked his third homer in two games and the Florida Marlins rallied for a 4-3 victory over New York.
"We were happy to squeeze one out. The ninth inning is always different, but we got out of it," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Matt Lindstrom escaped a bases-loaded jam by getting pinch-hitter Omir Santos on a game-ending popup.
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Josh Johnson went toe to toe with Santana for the second time in 17 days and left trailing 3-2 after serving up Fernando Tatis' tiebreaking homer in the sixth, upheld after a replay review.
Putz entered in the eighth and walked his first two batters before Ronny Paulino's sacrifice advanced both runners. Ross lined a single up the middle, sending Florida (13-8) to its second consecutive victory following a seven-game skid.
Missing star shortstop Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins took two of three from New York for the second time this season and improved to 13-5 against the NL East.
"To come in here to New York and take two out of three shows that we are not going to let this thing snowball, and we were able to do it facing one of the best pitchers in the National League," Ross said.
Lindstrom, a former Mets prospect, walked his first two batters before throwing a called third strike past struggling David Wright. Ryan Church grounded out and Tatis was hit by a pitch, bringing up Santos.
"It wasn't that pretty, really, but I got it done. That's what matters," said Lindstrom, who earned his fifth save and second in two days. "You can't go out there and walk guys and hit guys, but I made a couple of good pitches there at the end."
Copyright AP - Associated Press
