Marlins Slip Past Mets

Preston Wilson figured to be a star at Shea Stadium. He didn't expect to be putting up big numbers against the New York Mets, instead of for them.

"I always like playing well against this team, with my dad over there, even though he can't cheer for me," Wilson said Saturday after his go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning led the Florida Marlins to a 7-6 victory.

Florida won its season-high fourth straight, with Wilson homering in each. The Marlins (21-19) have won seven of eight, while the Mets (19-19) have dropped nine of 12.

"I'd have to be insane," Marlins manager John Boles said when asked if he ever dreamed of such a good spurt. "We're just happy we got off to a better start this year than last year."

New York went ahead 5-4 in the sixth on Todd Zeile's solo homer off Ron Mahay (1-0), who made his first appearance for the Marlins since they acquired him from Oakland on Thursday.

But Florida quickly got to Dennis Cook (3-2) when Luis Castillo singled leading off the seventh and Cliff Floyd was hit in the back by a pitch.

That brought up Wilson, the 25-year-old stepson of New York first base coach Mookie Wilson. Preston, acquired from the Mets in the May 1998 Mike Piazza trade, sent a 2-0 pitch into the left-field bleachers for his eighth home run of the season. He also doubled twice and had four RBIs.

"I get into that mode where I feel like I can hit everything they throw up there," Wilson said. "Just being the type of hitter I am, I'm going to have streak like that. But I'm a big swinger and when I'm out of whack, I'm really out of whack."

By homering in four straight games, he tied the team record Kurt Abbott set from July 14-17, 1994. Wilson is hitting .368 (7-for-19) against the Mets this year with three homers and 12 RBIs. He has a .269 career average against New York with five homers and 20 RBIs in 67 at-bats.

"He's getting better all the time," Boles said. "He's streaky at the plate, but most young power hitters are."

New York had a rough day, releasing disgruntled outfielder Rickey Henderson after the game, and even after wasting a pair of leads, the Mets nearly tied it.

They put runners the corners in the eighth, but Braden Looper struck out Piazza and Jon Nunnally, both pinch-hitting.

Antonio Alfonseca, Florida's fifth pitcher, got three outs for his 13th save in 14 chances but had to work for it. He gave up a one-out RBI single to Edgardo Alfonzo, then struck out pinch-hitter Mike Hampton.

The Mets had run out of available hitters, so Hampton was used as a pinch-hitter for the first time in his major league career. The pitcher missed a game-winning homer by about 10 feet with a long foul before striking out.

"It was foul when I hit it," he said. "It was foul unless one of those big planes came in with a big gust of wind at the right time."

Zeile, 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, followed with a single, but Matt Franco hit a game-ending comebacker.

On manager Bobby Valentine's 50th birthday, the Mets didn't start shortstop Rey Ordonez, out with a sore shoulder, and Piazza, given a day off from catching. But Alfonzo returned to play second base after missing a game with a sore riht calf.

Derek Bell's seventh homer and Zeile's RBI single put the Mets ahead in the first and Robin Ventura's RBI grounder made it 3-0 in the third.

Kevin Millar hit a two-run homer in the fourth on an 0-2 pitch, but Mets starter Pat Mahomes made it 4-2 with an RBI double in the bottom half. Florida tied it in the sixth on Wilson's RBI double, which chased Mahomes, and Paul Bako's RBI single off Turk Wendell.

Mahomes, making his third start of the season, gave up four runs and four hits in five-plus innings, while Florida starter Vladimir Nunez allowed four runs three earned and seven hits in five innings.

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