MIAMI (Ticker) -- Armando Benitez is keeping the New York Mets from the top spot in the National League East.
Juan Pierre's two-out, two-run single off Benitez in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Florida Marlins to a 4-3 victory over the Mets in the rubber game of their three-game series.
"I think I had one other game-winning hit in my career, but nothing as dramatic as that off a quality pitcher," Pierre said.
It was the second blown save for Benitez (0-2) in three opportunities this season. He blew just four in 37 chances in 2002.
"We had the right man on the mound when the game was on the line but just didn't get it done," Mets manager Art Howe said. "This loss is going to test our mettle, and we'll have to see what we're made of now."
Florida, which scored twice in the eighth to climb within 3-2, got a single from Mike Lowell to start the ninth. Derrek Lee advanced pinch runner Gerald Williams to third with a double before Benitez intentionally walked Todd Hollandsworth.
After Williams was forced out at home on a ground ball by Alex Gonzalez and pinch hitter Brian Banks flied out to shallow center field, it appeared as though Benitez might get out of the jam.
But Pierre, who earlier had extended his hitting streak to 10 games, capped a 3-for-5 night with a single just inside the first base bag, plating Lee and Hollandsworth and sending the sparse Pro Player Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
"I have to take responsibility for this one," said Benitez, who threw a fastball on his last pitch. "He hit my best pitch and just pulled it on me."
"(It was) very exciting to come through like that with the bases loaded and two outs," Pierre said. "I was fortunate to get a good pitch I could drive down the line. Got good wood on it."
Tim Spooneybarger (1-0) pitched a perfect top of the ninth to pick up the victory for Florida, which won back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Marlins won in the ninth inning on Wednesday on an RBI single by Ivan Rodriguez.
"This has been as big a back-to-back effort as I've seen here, and this was more exciting than Wednesday, if that's possible," Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said. "I think we're going to play a lot of these games."
Mets starter Tom Glavine, who yielded five hits in six scoreless innings, exited with a 2-0 lead after a first-inning solo homer by Ty Wigginton and a fourth-inning RBI single by Timo Perez, both of which came against Marlins starter Josh Beckett.
"I really felt good about the way I was pitching but that's the way the game goes sometimes," Glavine said.
"He was in good shape but in this game things can turn around quickly," Howe said of Glavine.
Cliff Floyd made it 3-0 with a homer in the top of the eighth off Michael Tejera before the Marlins rallied for two runs in the bottom of the frame on a run-scoring infield single by Pierre off of David Weathers' right foot and an RBI groundout by Rodriguez against Benitez.
"I felt sorry for Glavine," Benitez said. "He pitched well and deserved to have me hold it for him."
"It's never fun to see a game end like that," Glavine said. "This loss is tough on everyone."
The Mets, who fell to 1-2 on their 10-game road trip, open a four-game series against Montreal in Puerto Rico on Friday.
"It would have been a heck of a win," Howe said. "But instead it turned out to be a heck of a loss."
Florida, meanwhile, was left to celebrate consecutive bottom-of-the-ninth victories for the first time since three straight such wins against San Francsico in August 1999.
"What a win and what a positive for this ballclub, both in momentum and emotion," said Torborg, whose team hosts Atlanta this weekend.
"I'll be joyous about this for about 30 minutes," Pierre said. "But then (I'll) have to think about the Braves."
