(Sports Network) - New York Mets outfielder Angel Pagan seems to have broken out of his recent slump and will try to lead his team to victory again tonight in the second portion of a three-game series versus the Florida Marlins.
Pagan entered last night's game at Citi Field batting .176 (9-for-51) over his past 13 games, but a recent trip back to Puerto Rico may have been what he needed to regroup. Pagan finished 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored in Tuesday's 6-5 victory.
While Pagan celebrated one of his top batting performances of the season, teammate Luis Castillo was the hero with an RBI hit in the bottom of the ninth that plated Ike Davis with the game-winning run. Carlos Beltran andJeff Francoeur were both credited with two RBI for the Mets, winners in three of their last four games.
"I think today was a good game for us," said Beltran afterward. "It was an example of what we are as a team. Things aren't going as well as we want, but we're not quitting."
R.A. Dickey started for the Mets and did not record a decision as he yielded five runs and 10 hits in seven innings. Bobby Parnell threw a scoreless eighth inning and Hisanori Takahashi collected the win after working the ninth.
New York is seven games off the National League Wild Card lead.
Taking the mound for the Mets tonight will be Pat Misch, who is still in search of his first win of the season. Misch has lost starts against Philadelphia and Houston since being called up from the minors earlier this month, and previously pitched in last Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Misch gave up three runs in six innings, falling to 0-2 with a 3.00 earned run average. The lefty will face Florida for the fifth time in his career and is 1-2 with a 5.49 ERA in four games (3 starts) against the Marlins.
Florida has dropped back-to-back games since a five-game winning streak. In last night's tough loss, reliever Will Ohman allowed three hits and the eventual game-winning run to cross home plate for the loss. Starter Josh Johnson did not figure into the decision and didn't have his best stuff, as he permitted four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in five innings.
Gaby Sanchez hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBI for the Marlins, while Dan Uggla drove in the team's other run. Hanley Ramirez added three hits in the loss.
"I think we played a very good game out there," said Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez. "The guys hustled really hard out there and it showed. You play like that you're usually gonna win ball games."
The Marlins, who are 7 1/2 games off the final postseason spot in the NL, will send rookie Alex Sanabia to the mound tonight. He's 2-1 with a 3.77 earned run average in eight games, five of which have been starts.
Sanabia hasn't lost since June 30 against the Mets and is 2-0 over his past six trips to the mound. He just beat Pittsburgh last Thursday by holding the homestanding Pirates to one run and four hits in 7 2/3 innings of a 4-2 triumph.
Against the Mets almost two months ago, Sanabia was dealt the loss for giving up two runs -- one earned -- and three hits in two innings of a 6-5 decision.
Florida has taken eight of 14 meetings with New York so far this season, but the Mets have won five of the last seven games in this series.