New York - In the first two innings at Citi Field on Friday night, a team missed a popup and a fly ball, botched a grounder and threw a run-scoring wild pitch.

In a surprise, the guilty club was the Miami Marlins, not the New York Mets.

The Mets managed to avoid falling into last place in the NL East, beating the cellar-dwelling Marlins 7-3 as Scott Hairston hit a two-run homer and RBI triple.

New York, which also got a solo homer from Ike Davis, had lost nine straight at home since beating Houston on Aug. 26. The Mets won for only the fifth time in their last 30 games at Citi Field and ended a team-record streak of 16 home games without scoring more than three runs.

Former Met Jose Reyes had a triple crown of fielding foibles at shortstop for the Marlins, misplaying a popup, blowing a double play on a line drive and making a throwing error on a grounder. Miami manager Ozzie Guillen dropped his face into his hand when Reyes caught Davis' fifth-inning line drive, then failed to realize he could have doubled up Daniel Murphy at second base.

Miami's abysmal performance also included a dropped third strike and Justin Ruggiano's failed attempt at a diving catch on Hairston's triple that led to the left fielder leaving with a sprained right shoulder. If not for generous scoring, six of the Mets' runs could have been unearned.

The Mets also took out their left fielder early. Collins pulled Lucas Duda after two innings in what the team curiously said was "manager's decision."

Jonathon Niese (12-9) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings for the win.