Lynne Sladky, Associated Press Jason Bay and Sean Casey meet and greet at the plate after Bay's 22nd home run of the season ties the score in the fourth inning last night at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The Pirates rallied for three late runs to win the first of a four-game series.

MIAMI -- There was the dull rip of a steady rain and little else. The crowd at Dolphin Stadium, sparse as it was at 9,139, had retreated for cover, well away from the field.

Jeromy Burnitz, standing in the batter's box with the game in his grip, could hear almost nothing.

Until ...

"Someone started a chant," first baseman Sean Casey said. "And before long, we were all doing it."

In the Pirates' dugout, he meant.

"Bur-nee! Bur-nee! Bur-nee!"

Burnitz heard them, ignored them as much as possible, then struck the winning single in the ninth inning to lift his team to a thoroughly satisfying 5-3 soaking of the Florida Marlins last night.

"One of the best feelings all year," starter Ian Snell said.

	Today Matchup: Pirates (Paul Maholm 3-8) vs. Florida (Scott Olsen 7-4), Dolphin Stadium. When: 7:35 p.m. TV/radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network. Related articles Pirates Notebook: Randa not entirely without destinations Pirates Q&A with Dejan Kovacevic On the Air with Bob Smizik: FSN's praise of McClatchy a bit too much

"It was hilarious, especially how you could hear us through the whole place," shortstop Jack Wilson said. "We were having a good time, and that's what it's all about. This is what it's like when you win."

The score was 3-3 entering the ninth, when Jose Bautista drew a four-pitch walk against fresh reliever Randy Messenger. Jose Castillo bunted him to second, and he took third on a wild pitch while Ronny Paulino was working a full-count walk.

The infield was drawn in to the lip of the grass for Burnitz, a pinch-hitter lugging a .226 average and several months of disappointment to the plate.

Was he trying simply to shoot it through?

"Dude, you know the kind of year I'm having," he said to a reporter. "I'm just trying to hit the ball."

He waited out a 2-2 curveball and punched it past second baseman Dan Uggla to bring the lead.

One out later, Wilson doubled to score Paulino.

And, by the time Burnitz was back in the dugout, he heard it once more.

"They started the chant again," he said, smiling. "That's a pretty good feeling, I've got to tell you. It means a lot to know when your teammates are behind you."

Mike Gonzalez notched his 16th save -- stranding the tying run on base -- to help the Pirates improve to 5-2 since the All-Star break, extending a stretch in which they have appeared uncommonly comfortable in tight quarters after losing 25 games by one run in the first half.

Asked if the break had a cleansing effect, manager Jim Tracy replied, "Yes, there has been a turnaround there. When you have a break like that, you think back to what could have been, to what you might have done better. I don't see us being anxious up there anymore. We're just getting good pitching and timely hits."

"I think a lot of our guys have learned," reliever Roberto Hernandez said. "We've already been tested by the failure. Now, you're seeing us execute."

Josh Johnson, Florida's 22-year-old rookie whose 2.49 ERA is lowest in the National League, had a 1-0 lead and retired the Pirates' first 10 batters until Wilson's one-out walk in the fourth. One batter later, Jason Bay destroyed a first-pitch fastball, sending it two rows deep into the left-center portion of the steep upper deck.

Initially, Florida officials announced the distance as 445 feet, erroneously saying it landed in a section two levels lower. More than an hour later, after consulting with security officers who found the ball in the vacant area, the estimate grew to 456 feet, still about 30-40 feet shorter than it appeared.

"Whatever," Bay said of the measurement. "It counted."

Johnson's view?

"I didn't see where it landed," he said. "But I didn't want to look."

Bay's 22nd home run provided the Pirates a short-lived 2-1 lead. Snell's first pitch in the Florida fourth was driven over the left-field fence by Mike Jacobs.

The Marlins moved back ahead, 3-2, in the sixth on Uggla's run-scoring triple with one out. But Snell stranded Uggla at third and was pulled in the bottom half, leaving him with a quality start of three runs in six innings.

"Ian did a very good job," Tracy said. "Mixed all his pitches well."

Nate McLouth led off the eighth by tying the score, 3-3 on his fifth home run, lacing a Logan Kensing fastball to right-center.

Hernandez, Damaso Marte, Salomon Torres and Gonzalez put up three zeroes to close it out.

Gonzalez, of course, made it interesting -- after two strikeouts -- by giving up a single and walk to bring the winning run to the plate in Alfredo Amezaga. But Amezaga swung under 94-mph heat to end it.

"Doesn't matter how it gets done," Gonzalez said. "It's a great feeling, man."

"The big thing is we're not worried about the record anymore," Wilson said. "We know what happened in the first half, where we sit in the standings. Why worry about it? Our mindset now is to go out and finish strong."

And have some fun?

"This was a blast."