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Burnett, Cabrera help Marlins end Mets' winning streak
FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- A.J. Burnett cranked up the heat and cooled off the
New York Mets
.
Burnett pitched a four-hitter for his second complete game of the season and
Miguel Cabrera
drove in three runs as the
Florida Marlins
snapped the Mets' six-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory.
Mixing his blazing fastball with an array of offspeed pitches, Burnett (2-1) kept the Mets scoreless until yielding a solo homer to
Victor Diaz
in the sixth. Burnett, who came up in the Mets farm system before being traded in the
Al Leiter
deal in 1998, won at Shea Stadium for the first time in six career starts.
"We ran into a good pitcher," Mets third baseman
David Wright
said. "The way he was going, he's got a 98-99 mile an hour fastball and then he throws a hook at you. He had everything going."
It was the fifth complete game of the season for the Marlins. Entering Sunday, the rest of the National League teams had a combined total of three complete games.
"You always want to finish what you start," Burnett said. "I mixed it up well, so they always weren't sitting on my fastball. I didn't throw many pitches so I knew I could bring it hard in the ninth."
Burnett threw 105 pitches, 70 of which were strikes. He walked three, struck out five, and was helped by three double plays.
"He (Burnett) was in complete command," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "In the past, he would throw (105) pitches in five or six innings."
Burnett received plenty of support from Cabrera, who had a two-run single in the first and drove in another run with a force play in the third.
Tom Glavine
(0-2) remained winless in three starts, allowing the first four batters of the game to reach base. The lefthander lasted six innings and yielded four runs and six hits as his struggles against the Marlins continued. Glavine has dropped six straight decisions to the Marlins, including an 0-4 mark last year, and is 15-18 against them in his career.
"I wasn't totally locked in," said Glavine, who walked four. "It was more of a battle to make pitches than it has been."
The Mets had won six straight games for the first time since August 2003, but looked sloppy before their third sellout crowd of the year at Shea Stadium.
Shortstop
Jose Reyes
made a pair of errors on the same batted ball in the sixth that led to a run. Second baseman Kaz Matsui had a shaky third inning defensively that led to another Florida run.
Former Marlin
Ramon Castro
drove in the second Mets' run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Castro had the game-winning RBI single in the ninth inning of the Mets' 4-3 victory on Saturday.
Juan Pierre
opened the game with a bunt single,
Luis Castillo
singled and
Carlos Delgado
walked to load the bases. Cabrera followed with a two-run single to left.
"This team has been hot and everything has been going for them," Pierre said. "It was important that we set the tone early and added on at the end."
Matsui was slow getting to a pair of balls hit by Castillo and Delgado that were credited as singles. Cabrera hit into a force play to drive in a run, and an errant relay throw from Matsui prevented a double play.
With a runner on first in the sixth, Reyes bobbled a ground ball by
Mike Lowell
and threw wildly to first to put runners on first and third.
Alex Gonzalez
later followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Marlins a 4-0 lead.
The Marlins added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI single by
Juan Encarnacion
.
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