MIAMI - Carlos Delgado had searched for his swing all season. He found it last night - launching a pair of titanic blasts that traveled a combined 878 feet.
Delgado's two-homer, five-RBI performance, combined with a bounce-back outing by John Maine, lifted the Mets to a 7-2 win against the Marlins at Dolphin Stadium.
The Mets (31-17) opened a season-high 3-1/2-game lead over the Braves in the NL East, though they lost their second outfielder of the series as Carlos Gomez (strained hamstring) joined Shawn Green (broken foot) among the injured, likely requiring Ben Johnson to join the team from Triple-A New Orleans for today's series finale.
"It's a little later than we expected, but the big boy is ready to roll," Willie Randolph said about Delgado. "Hopefully he can carry us for awhile.
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Said Delgado: "You talk to some of the home run hitters and they will tell you the same thing: They got hot. They hit a few. And then they survive for awhile.
And then some more come. That's how you make your living.
"I've been feeling a lot better at the plate.
I thought I had some good at-bats in Atlanta. I saw the ball good (Friday). We talked about this throughout last week, that once you start feeling better and you can get a clear path, your hands are going to fly through the zone and things are going to be back to normal.
I think it's almost impossible to predict, 'I'm going to hit two home runs tonight,' but I can tell you I have been feeling better at the plate."
Delgado had his 41st career multihomer game. Both blasts came off Wes Obermueller - the latter a three-run shot in the fifth that gave the Mets a 7-1 lead and chased the Marlins' starter.
Delgado entered the night with a .224 average and three homers - well off his .281 career average and his pace of 38 homers per season.
He went 3-for-5, grounding out with the bases loaded for the final out of the eighth to miss a chance to have a truly monster night. Delgado's last two-homer game had come on Aug. 22, 2006, against the Cardinals when the Mets won, 8-7, on a walk-off two-run homer by Carlos Beltran off Jason Isringhausen despite Maine surrendering seven runs in five innings.
Maine had raced to a 5-0 record this year. He then went into a funk during consecutive starts against the Giants, Cubs and Yankees. He finally got back on track last night, picking up his first win in 22 days with plenty of room to maneuver thanks to Delgado.
Maine (6-2) tossed six innings, limiting the Marlins to two runs and four hits as he matched Oliver Perez for the team's win lead with a 104-pitch outing. He surrendered a two-out RBI single to Miguel Olivo in the second and then went on a strikeout binge, recording every out in the third and fourth innings via a punchout.
The latest performance resembled Maine's April, when he was named NL Pitcher of the Month and became the fifth Met to lead the majors in ERA during the season's opening month at 1.
35. Maine's control had betrayed him during a three-game stretch that included two losses and a no-decision. He walked a combined 12 batters in 16 innings during those outings.
Maine did walk four batters last night, including Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida consecutively with one out in the sixth and the Mets leading by five runs. But Maine regrouped by getting Olivo to ground into a fielder's choice and then striking out Aaron Boone. That strikeout was his eighth, matching a career high, also done April 29 when he tossed seven scoreless innings at Washington.
Ambiorix Burgos took over for Maine in the seventh and tossed two scoreless frames despite struggling to grip his slider as a drizzle became a downpour. Aaron Sele pitched the ninth. "It does feel good," Maine said, "but now the goal is to carry it over to the bullpen and carry it over to the next start.
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