Marlins' Willis gets 19th victory

MIAMI -- Leading with his valuable left arm, Dontrelle Willis dived for the plate and slid across safely. That's why he was covered with infield dirt when he set a Florida Marlins record for wins in a season.Helping himself with his baserunning and his bat, Willis earned his 19th victory Friday night, pitching into the ninth inning of a 4-2 victory against the New York Mets.

He went 2-for-4, including a double in the Marlins' two-run sixth. He scored their final run, racing home from third on a grounder and beating the throw with a headfirst slide."He's the complete package," Manager Jack McKeon said. "He plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. There's a lot of kid in him."Willis (19-8), who should make at least five more starts, broke the franchise mark for victories that he shared with Carl Pavano, who went 18-8 last year. Willis won his fourth consecutive start and tied St. Louis' Chris Carpenter for the major league lead in victories."I never thought I'd be in a situation like this -- to get that many wins in a single season," Willis said. "I'm definitely rolling with it."David Wright's RBI single chased Willis with one out in the ninth, but Todd Jones finished for his 33rd save in 35 tries. Willis allowed seven hits and two runs, one earned.His gem came at the start of a key series between NL wild-card contenders. Florida remained 11/2 games behind wild-card leader Philadelphia while New York fell 31/2 games back.The Mets have lost five of six."I still think we have a pretty good chance to do what we want to do," said Victor Zambrano, who allowed 12 hits and four runs in five-plus innings.

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