A fly ball smacked Chris Coghlan in the face. A pitch dinged Cody Ross on the wrist. Another pitch whacked Brett Carroll on the shoulder.

The Marlins were bruised by the New York Mets on Saturday. But they weren't beaten by them.

With a seven-run outburst in the fifth inning, the Marlins cruised to a 9-6 victory over the Mets in the next-to-last home game of the season.

Cameron Maybin, an injury replacement for Ross, clubbed a line drive, three-run home run off Mets pitcher John Maine in the pivotal fifth frame as the Marlins continued to cling to their shrinking prospects in the National League wild-card race.

``We're still hanging around,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said of the Marlins.

Pretty much everyone in the lineup got into the act in Saturday's victory, putting a charge into an announced crowd of 35,666 -- sixth largest of the season.

But the spotlight shined brightest on the youngest Marlins.

There was Maybin, who was inserted after Ross left the game with a bruised left wrist. Maybin brought Maine's night to an immediate end when he stroked a line shot to left that barely cleared the scoreboard.

It was Maybin's third home run of the season.

There was Brett Carroll, who charmed the crowd with his gung-ho defensive play in right field.

There was Brett Hayes, who came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the wild fifth, doubling to left to drive in a run.

There was rookie starter Sean West, who received the win and improved to 8-6 even though he didn't turn in his best performance.

And, as usual, there was Coghlan, who continued adding to his Rookie of the Year candidacy by producing a single and RBI double in the fifth. Coghlan, who now has 46 multi-hit games, was the butt of a pre-game joke.

Kid Coghlan's teammates showed up for the pre-game stretch wearing the white, Chris Coghlan T-shirts that were given away to the first 15,000 fans on Saturday. Coghlan, wearing his black, standard-issue practice top, stood out like a sore thumb. Later, Coghlan was actually feeling a bit sore when Carlos Beltran's soft liner glanced off his glove and hit his face. Coghlan was charged with an error -- one that cost the Marlins an early run -- but he shook it off.

`LOST IN THE LIGHTS'

``I lost it in the lights,'' Coghlan said, ``and it scraped my face.''

Coghlan recovered, and so did the Marlins.

The Mets began unraveling in the top of the fifth. After taking a 3-2 lead on David Wright's double, the Mets blew a chance to increase the lead when Wright made a base-running blunder. As Jeff Francoeur was being thrown out at second for the third out of the inning while trying to stretch his single into a double, Wright was slowing down nearing the plate and failed to touch it in time.

``First time I've seen that this year,'' said Marlins catcher John Baker.

Said Maybin, who cut down Francouer at second with his throw from center: ``I didn't even know he didn't score until I got back to the dugout, looked up at the scoreboard and saw they only scored one run [in the inning]. I wasn't aware of how big it was [when it happened]. It was huge.''

The Marlins touched the plate seven times when it was their turn to bat.

West said when he returned to the dugout after pitching the fifth, he was told he wouldn't be going back out for the sixth.

``I just took a seat on the bench and I knew good things were going to happen,'' West said.

The Mets threatened in the ninth, scoring twice off Matt Lindstrom. The reliever was making only his third relief appearance over the past two weeks.

After Lindstrom struck out Wright, Gonzalez brought in Brendan Donnelly, who struck out Beltran for the third out.

UNHAPPY LINDSTROM

Lindstrom, sitting in the dugout after being lifted, appeared angry and slammed his left elbow into the bench seat.

X-rays of Ross' wrist were negative and the outfielder is listed as day to day. But Gonzalez said he probably wouldn't play when the two teams meet Sunday for what will be the final home game of the season for the Marlins.

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