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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) – The Florida Marlins and New York Mets were just
happy to get back to playing baseball.
|  | | Preston Wilson's two homers were his first longballs since April 29, a span of 80 at-bats. |
After two days of bad blood between the teams, the clubs stayed
calm Saturday. No jawing between dugouts, no benches clearing.
"The last couple of days have been a couple of nasty days,"
Florida manager John Boles said after the Marlins' 7-3 victory.
"All the players feel the same way. What you saw today was
baseball, not that stuff that took place the last 48 hours."
The only hints of hostility came when Mets reliever Rick White
threw two inside pitches to Eric Owens, and when Cliff Floyd fell
and sat at the plate for a few moments to collect his thoughts
after being brushed back by a pitch from Glendon Rusch.
"I was just expecting professional baseball," Mets manager
Bobby Valentine said.
"Today was just go out there and play and get all the talking
done with," said Preston Wilson, who hit two solo home runs and an
RBI double for Florida. "Just stop talking about what you're going
to do or what you think someone else did. You can't let all those
little sideshows take away from the game."
Wilson, who tied a career high with four hits, is the stepson of
Mets first-base coach Mookie Wilson. The one-time Mets prospect
spent many days and nights roaming the corridors beneath the stands
at Shea Stadium as a youngster.
"The amazing thing is that a lot of the security guards are the
same guys that were there when I was 10 years old," Wilson said
with a smile. "I was around all the time and learned how to play
baseball by watching guys playing at the highest level right
here."
Ryan Dempster snapped his three-game losing streak, giving up
three runs and six hits in seven innings.
Dempster (4-6), who struck out five and walked six, wasn't
particularly sharp, but made big pitches to get out of jams
throughout.
"I had a few walks, but I can't even tell you how many I had
because I didn't let them bother me," Dempster said. "It didn't
matter whether it was a hit, an error or a walk, I just tried to
concentrate on making my next pitch."
Dave Berg, who came in with just two RBI, hit two RBI singles
as the Marlins used 18 hits to snap a two-game losing streak.
Braden Looper pitched the eighth and Antonio Alfonseca pitched
the ninth as the Mets' season-high three-game winning streak was
ended.
"We came back from 3-0 to make it 3-2, but I just think the
kid's 94 mph fastball kind of stymied us," Mets manager Bobby
Valentine said.
Rusch (3-4), who went 21 innings without giving up an
earned run at home before allowing four in 2 2-3 innings in a loss
to San Diego in his last start at Shea on May 16, gave up two runs
on four hits in the first inning.
Owens led off with a double and Berg, batting only .116,
followed with a liner to center to score Owens. Kevin Millar
singled two outs later, and Derek Lee hit an RBI double to make it
2-0.
The Mets had a chance to do some major damage when they loaded
the bases against Dempster with no outs in the second. But Desi
Relaford popped up, Rusch struck out and Benny Agbayani flied out
to end the threat.
Wilson gave the Marlins a 3-0 lead with two outs in the third
when he homered into the picnic area in left-center field on the
first pitch.
"My changeup was left up a couple of times," Rusch said.
"They hit it off the wall in the first inning, and then Preston
hit it out of the ballpark."
New York scored twice in the third on RBI singles by Todd Zeile
and Tsuyoshi Shinjo to make it 3-2.
Florida added another run in the fourth on Berg's RBI single.
Todd Pratt's sacrifice fly got the Mets within a run in the
fifth.
Wilson gave the Marlins a two-run cushion with a solo shot off
Donne Wall into the picnic area in the seventh, and his RBI double
in the eighth made it 6-3.
"Preston is the cornerstone of this organization," Boles said.
"He just really emulates everything you want in a professional
athlete."
Ryan McGuire hit a pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth for
Florida's final run.
"Winning this game gives us a chance to split the series,"
Wilson said. "That's the most important thing we can get out of
this. Today was just baseball."
Game notes
Wilson's homer in the third was his first since April 29 at
Houston, a span of 80 at-bats. ... It was Wilson's fifth career
multihomer game, and second this season. ... The Marlins' season
high for hits in a game is 19, set on April 29 at Houston. ... Mets
right fielder Timo Perez made a nice diving catch of Redmond's
blooper in the fifth.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
NY Mets Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 12
Cleveland 5
Texas 0
Baltimore 0
Oakland 5
Minnesota 4
Minnesota 7
Oakland 6
(2nd game)
Anaheim 10
Tampa Bay 4
Toronto 5
Boston 0
Chi. White Sox 8
Detroit 0
Seattle 7
Kansas City 2
Florida 7
NY Mets 3
Milwaukee 0
Chicago Cubs 0
Colorado 10
San Francisco 4
Atlanta 9
Pittsburgh 3
Cincinnati 7
St. Louis 2
Montreal 0
Philadelphia 0
Arizona 3
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 7
Houston 2
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