First baseman Jorge Cantu returned to the starting lineup Friday with a slightly new look -- he wore a protective guard on his left hand. Turns out, it doesn't prevent him from hitting.
His hand still throbbing, Cantu slapped an RBI single up the middle with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lift Florida to a 5-4 win over the Mets. Cantu left Wednesday's game two innings after being struck in the hand with a pitch. The Marlins were off Thursday, which gave him extra time to rest his bruised hand.
He got to the ballpark early Friday afternoon and took swings before declaring himself healthy enough to start.
"The day off was huge. It gave me a day to ice," he said.
Cantu already wears an elbow guard, but he is wearing the extra protection to prevent his hand from swelling up.
Cantu had hit home runs in each of the Marlins' first two games. He went 2-for-5 Friday and is batting .429.
MARLINS 5, METS 4: The Marlins earned their first one-run win of the season Friday and remained undefeated. But the game exposed the team's most glaring weakness: an inconsistent bullpen. RHP Anibal Sanchez left after five innings with a 2-0 lead, but four relievers couldn't hold the Mets. Even after Florida took a 4-3 lead, RHP Matt Lindstrom -- one out from converting his second straight save chance -- suffered a blown save by surrendering a game-tying single to Jeremy Reed. Lindstrom wound up with the win after Jorge Cantu's single scored Emilio Bonifacio with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
