It was a reassuring night for nearly everyone wearing a Mets uniform. A reeling Pedro Astacio jumped back on the winning track, and he had plenty of offense supporting him.
Mike Piazza, suffering from tendinitis in his left wrist, homered on his 34th birthday. Bobby Valentine had one big move to make and it worked perfectly when John Valentin laced a two-run pinch-hit single to center after the manager lifted Astacio in the bottom of the sixth.
Edgardo Alfonzo and Jeromy Burnitz hit their 13th homers of the season, back-to-back, in the seventh, and Ty Wigginton hit the club’s fourth homer of the game as an eighth-inning pinch-hitter.
Although the crowds at Shea Stadium dwindle as fans refuse to watch meaningless baseball, the Mets won their second straight home game to put a dismal streak farther behind them, posting an 11-3 decision over the Marlins in front of an announced crowd of 28,473.
“Those are good things to see,” Valentine said after reciting a litany of positives.
“Good day all the way around,” was how Mo Vaughn put it.
Astacio (12-8) was a rare bright spot five starts ago. Now he’s cause for moderate concern among members of the Met Fan Club, and the subject of countless health questions.
Astacio was cruising along this season as the Mets’ best starter, owning an 11-4 record on Aug. 6. Then the season went down the drain for the Mets, and Astacio was drowning.
In his four starts prior to last night, the 32-year-old righty was tagged for four straight losses. In 19 2/3 innings, he allowed 34 hits and 27 runs (25 earned). His ERA ballooned from 2.95 to 3.95 entering last night.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with his health,” Valentine said before the game.
Astacio also insisted his health was fine through the struggles. The Mets (63-74) gave him a 3-0 lead after the first by tagging Florida starter Julian Tavarez early. Piazza homered for the second time in two games with one out, driving in Roberto Alomar.
Astacio gave it back in the second when Mike Lowell pulled a 90-mile-per-hour fastball for a three-run homer, but then pitched four scoreless innings and retired the final seven hitters in order. He will have his 2003 option year exercised after 180 innings, and he’s now 7 2/3 innings away.
Piazza, who is seeing a hand and wrist specialist today, again proved he can hit as long as the wrist is properly taped. He smashed his 26th of the season off Tavarez (10-11), homering for the third time in five years on his birthday.
“It’s not pretty,” Piazza said, “but it’s working.”
Burnitz had one of his best nights as a Met, driving in two runs, scoring thrice and getting two hits, including a solo bomb to right that followed Alfonzo’s one-out homer in the seventh.
He was a key figure in the most bizarre play of the night with the score tied at 3-3 in the fourth. With runners at the corners and one out, Valentine put on the squeeze. Burnitz, on third, saw a pitchout and didn’t run.
Ordonez squared around but then took a half-cut at the high pitch and dropped a single into shallow center.
“I’ve never seen a bunt to center field that got a runner from first to third,” Valentine said. “I don’t know why he didn’t take it, but it worked out perfectly.”
Burnitz said, “It’s definitely an odd play. It’s not something you see all the time.”
Added Ordonez: “I thought it was a high fastball away. I didn’t think it was a pitchout.”
