Marlins’ skid at 7 straight
Omir Santos hit the first grand slam in Citi Field history for his first career RBIs, and the New York Mets beat Florida 7-1 Monday night to extend the Marlins’ losing streak to seven.
Santos’ first-inning drive off Anibal Sanchez (1-2) went about four rows into the left-field seats and is just the sixth home run for the Mets at the pitcher-friendly ballpark, their first in six games since April 17. Daniel Murphy and David Wright tripled for New York, which has more three-base hits (seven) at its new ballpark than homers.
Overall, only 15 homers have been hit in 10 games at Citi Field, a stark contrast to the 26 that rocketed out of the new Yankee Stadium during the opening six-game homestand.
John Maine (1-2) won for the first time in four starts this season, allowing only an unearned run and one hit in six innings and lowering his ERA from 7.47 to 5.40. Sean Green pitched a hitless seventh, J.J. Putz followed with a one-hit eighth and Francisco Rodriguez finished the two-hitter in a non-save situation.
Jorge Cantu hit an RBI single in the first after left fielder Gary Sheffield dropped Emilio Bonifacio’s easy fly ball leading off for a two-base error, the fifth error by Mets outfielders this year.
Florida, which started 11-1, is on its longest losing streak since dropping eight straight from Aug. 15-22, 2007, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.