NEW YORK (AP) - Jack McKeon knows that Chris Volstad has pitched well lately.

After the Florida Marlins lost to the New York Mets 3-2 on Wednesday night, McKeon didn't particularly care.

``Well, that's two good outings, but he's got two Ls,' the 80-year-old manager said. ``Quality start. Big deal. I want quality wins. I don't want quality starts, I want quality wins.'

Advertisement

Volstad (5-12) was sharp early, facing one over the minimum in the first three innings, but he fell to 0-4 in six starts since beating the Astros on July 10. The right-hander pitched 6 1-3 innings, was charged with two earned runs and struck out four.

Bay singled off Volstad's foot in the sixth, allowing David Wright to trot home with the tying run. Volstad lifted his hands in frustration and looked up after watching the ball bounce into right field.

``Couple infield hits, ball goes off my foot. That's the way it goes, I guess,' Volstad said.

Before Bay got his pinball hit in the sixth, he had an infield single in the second. It was almost comic relief for the struggling outfielder.

``Yeah, I mean, it's almost like a running joke,' Bay said. ``I earned it. That relaxed me, and I went from there.'

Wright hit two long doubles high off the wall in left field for the Mets, who have won five of six. The third baseman also made a diving stop on Omar Infante's hot grounder for the second out of the ninth before Bobby Parnell got his third save in five chances.

``Take Wright out of the game, and we're in business,' McKeon said. ``He gets the hit and the outstanding field.'

Jose Reyes kicked off the Mets' seventh with a single up the middle that squirted between shortstop Emilio Bonifacio and second baseman Omar Infante when both pulled up to avoid a collision. He moved to second on Tejada's sacrifice and scored easily when Duda hit a full-count pitch from Mike Dunn up the middle.

Florida has lost 19 of 24 since beating the Mets twice in early August.

Manny Acosta (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning of relief as New York dug deep into its bullpen on the last day before rosters expand in September.

Starter Chris Capuano barely made it through five innings, and the Mets used Pedro Beato, Acosta and Jason Isringhausen before Parnell. Mets second baseman Tejada went far to his right to snag a grounder by Mike Stanton and threw him out to end the game.

``Ruben made that good play to end the game,' Wright said. ``You want to go out there and, especially the way our pitchers have been pitching lately, you want to try to get out there and try to get them out of some jams because they've been picking us up a lot of times. We kick some balls behind them and we want to pick them up. I'm glad they were able to do that for Bobby.'

Bay was out at the plate on Josh Thole's grounder to first in the eighth. Although John Buck dropped the throw from Gaby Sanchez, Bay's slide was short and behind the plate, and he wound up behind the catcher. Buck bobbled the ball, but eventually picked it up and tagged Bay out in the back as he tried to scramble back to touch home.

Marlins left fielder Logan Morrison robbed Duda of a hit in the fifth. With two outs and Reyes on second thanks to a bloop double, Morrison made a diving grab on Duda's sinking liner.

Nick Evans hit a bases-loaded RBI single in the fourth for New York. His grounder was fielded by Bonifacio, who bounced a throw to second baseman Omar Infante too late to get Angel Pagan.

Capuano struggled in his first outing since he struck out 13 while throwing a two-hitter against the Braves.

Jose Lopez hit a two-run single in the first inning, when Capuano gave up hits to the first two batters of the game. He made it through five, allowing seven hits and two walks.

``I was extremely proud of the way he battled back after the first inning,' Mets manager Terry Collins said. ``He had 60 pitches in the first two innings and hung in there.'

NOTES: Bay's infield single in the second ended an 0-for-17 slump. ... Volstad singled with one out in the second inning after a 12-pitch at-bat. ... The Mets plan to start 40-year-old RHP Miguel Batista against Marlins RHP Clay Hensley (2-5) in Thursday's game. Batista made his major league debut with the 1992 Pirates, whose bullpen coach was Terry Collins, now the Mets manager. ... McKeon had no update on Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez, who was pinch-hit for after two at_bats in his rehab game on Tuesday night. He has a sprained shoulder and hasn't played since he dived for a fly ball Aug. 2 in New York. Ramirez, who was on the DL earlier this season with a lower back strain, is batting .243 with 10 homers and 45 RBIs.