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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MIAMI (AP) – It might be the weather. Or it could be the mound.
Not even Al Leiter knows exactly why he pitches so well at Pro
Player Stadium.
 | | | Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura each homered in the Mets' victory. |
Leiter allowed one run in 6 1-3 innings, and Robin Ventura and
Mike Piazza homered as the New York Mets beat the Florida Marlins
7-1 Saturday night.
Leiter (3-3) won for the third time in four starts since coming
off the disabled list May 18 with a strained left elbow. Since
then, the 35-year-old lefty is 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA.
"He pitched well. What are you going to do?" Marlins manager
Tony Perez said. "When he's on, he's tough. You don't want to give
him too many runs early."
Especially in Miami. Leiter improved to 20-6 with a 2.29 ERA
all-time at Pro Player Stadium.
"He's more in command here and he likes that mound out there,"
Perez said.
Leiter gave up five hits, struck out five and walked one against
the Marlins, his former team.
"He was throwing it pretty well," Mets manager Bobby Valentine
said. "He really had his good stuff tonight. He really had control
of the inside of the plate with his cutter."
Leiter left in the seventh after giving up a one-out homer to
Mike Lowell and a single to Charles Johnson.
He was given a warm ovation as he walked into the dugout. The
boos were saved for Florida's Dan Miceli.
Miceli, whose comments led to the firing of manager John Boles
last week, entered the game in the seventh inning to a loud and
long ovation of boos.
Piazza greeted him even more rudely, hitting his 15th homer of
the season to start the inning and giving the Mets a 5-0 lead.
"That's part of the game," Miceli said of the reception.
"You've got to learn how to handle it and move on. I guess I got
it over with. ... I just wish everybody would understand the
situation. Hopefully I can earn their respect back."
It was Miceli's first outing at home since Boles was fired in
Pittsburgh on Monday.
Miceli gave up two more runs in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Lenny
Harris singled and scored on Desi Relaford's double. Piazza
followed a double that scored Relaford.
The 30-year-old reliever allowed six hits and three runs in two
innings, raising his team-high ERA to 7.84.
Florida's Chuck Smith (3-1) also struggled from the start.
Throwing a season-high 124 pitches, he walked six, three
intentionally, and hit a batter en route to his first loss of the
season.
Smith gave up four hits and four runs and struck out six in five
innings. It was just his second loss in 12 starts since last
August.
Ventura and Tsuyoshi Shinjo drove in two runs apiece for the
second straight night. Piazza also had two RBI.
Ventura gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the first with his ninth
home run of the season, a two-run shot that followed a walk to
Piazza.
Shinjo made it 4-0 with a bases-loaded doubled down the
left-field line in the fifth, scoring Timo Perez and Ventura.
That was plenty of run support for Leiter, who has given Florida
problems since being traded to New York after the 1997 World
Series.
He improved to 7-1 with a 2.90 ERA in eight appearances against
the Marlins.
Leiter retired the first nine batters in order before Dave Berg
singled to start the fourth. The Mets erased Berg with a double
play, and Leiter sat down the next four hitters before Johnson's
two-out double in the fifth.
After walking Derrek Lee, Leiter struck out Alex Gonzalez to end
the Marlins' threat.
"I felt really, really good early on," Leiter said.
Game notes
The Mets are 5-2 against Florida. ... Leiter's lone
no-hitter, May 11, 1996 against Colorado, also came at Pro Player
Stadium. ... The Marlins fell to 3-3 under Perez. ... The crowd of
33,061 was Florida's second highest of the season, trailing only
Opening Day.
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