Morse snaps RBI drought with simple approach

MIAMI -- Winners of six of seven, the Marlins have gotten contributions from up and down their lineup. On Tuesday night, it was Michael Morse's turn.

Morse's one-out RBI single to center in the eighth scored Martin Prado from second base and lifted the Marlins to a 4-3 victory over the Mets at Marlins Park.

For Morse, it snapped a string of seven straight games without an RBI. During that stretch, the first baseman was 5-for-29 (.172) with nine strikeouts.

Rather than lament about his slump, Morse instead was caught up in the emotions of the team. The club has overcome a 3-11 start and at 9-12 is clawing its way back toward .500.

"Just have fun, man," Morse said. "The way this team is playing, you never know who is going to be the hero that day. That's what makes good teams. We're right where we want to be right now."

Morse's approach was simple.

"I relaxed and let my ability come out," he said. "I tried not to force anything. It's been a tough month. I think that's what I needed."

Morse hadn't knocked in a run since he homered off Carlos Torres of the Mets on April 18 at Citi Field.

Video: MIA@NYM: Morse cuts deficit with a solo homer

On Tuesday, it happened to be Torres who surrendered the run-scoring single to Morse.

"Big hit," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "That's why I say you have to keep plugging along. The effort is definitely there. He's getting his swings in. He just needed a big hit and he got it at the perfect time."

Morse opened the season hitting cleanup, behind Giancarlo Stanton. Of late, he's batted fifth, with Marcell Ozuna in the fourth spot.

When he tries to correct his approach, Morse aims at staying up the middle and using the entire field.

"I do my best when I'm driving the ball the other way, going inside-out with the ball," he said. "For me, a big at-bat right there, to hit a ball right back up the middle, is a feel I want. It's what I've been searching for. It's a good feeling. I'm going to try to keep it."