By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service

Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis reacts to striking out New York's Alfonso Soriano in the eighth inning during Game 5 of the World Series Thursday in Miami. (Associated Press photo)

MIAMI - Now, trying to forget two dark nights in Pro Player Stadium, the New York Yankees limp home, hoping they can cure all that ails them.

The Florida Marlins, growing daily in nerve and confidence and possibility, travel north, with a 3-2 lead in the World Series and a rare opportunity - not many visiting teams pour champagne in Yankee Stadium.

The World Series took a sudden turn Thursday night in Game 5, in a flurry of New York injuries and Marlins runs, and a 6-4 Florida victory that makes the Bronx the Yankees' last stand.

"We haven't been down this road many times before," said manager Joe Torre, who lost starter David Wells to back spasms after one inning.

"I think we're focused," said Florida's Mike Lowell. "We know it's going to be a tough battle, but I think we'll be ready."

While Brad Penny was holding New York to two runs and eight singles in seven innings and driving in two runs himself, and while Alex Gonzalez was following his game-winning homer on Wednesday with a game-tying double on Thursday, and while Juan Pierre and Lowell were adding extra padding to the lead, the Yankees' were tumbling.

They had another ninth-inning rally in them, cutting a 6-2 lead to 6-4 with a Jason Giambi pinch-hit homer and Enrique Wilson's RBI double off Braden Looper. But this time closer Ugueth Urbina closed the door, barely, on a Bernie Williams fly to the warning track in right and Hideki Matsui's line smash to Derrek Lee at first.

The Marlins are playing chicken with the Yankees mystique - and they're winning.

"It gets a little scary sometimes," said manager Jack McKeon.

Suddenly, the Yankees, a team with a payroll to fix any problem, looked more fragile than fierce. The result clearly left the Marlins in full view of a championship.

"They're a damn good team," Derek Jeter said of the Marlins. "They don't give anything away."

To be sure, New York has two games left in Yankee Stadium if it can force a Game 7, with steady veterans Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina set to start, and Roger Clemens available in the bullpen.

"Certainly, you'd rather be up 3-2, than down 3-2," Torre said. "But I feel very good about who we have pitching."

"Pettitte," Jeter said, "is our guy."

But the Cubs had Mark Prior and Kerry Wood in Wrigley Field, and they didn't stop the Marlins.

The Yankees came to the wrong place to try to get by with a reworked lineup, and patchwork pitching.

Wells was gone after a perfect first, the shortest stint for a World Series starting pitcher in 19 years.

"I was tight. I couldn't get loose," he said. "I had no command. I took myself out."

Said Lowell: "The thing we were happy about is we knew their bullpen was going to be taxed."

Giambi was scratched just before the game. His sore left knee had worsened.

And Alfonso Soriano was sat down by Torre, with his .209 postseason average and 25 strikeouts.

The pitcher who replaced Wells, Jose Contreras, gave up four runs in three innings.

The second baseman who replaced Soriano, Wilson, had a throwing error in the fifth inning that helped lead to two runs. Soriano hit in the eighth and struck out.

And one of the few hot bats in the lineup, Williams, flied out with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Penny allowed an unearned run in the first, and not another until the seventh, an inning in which he struck out Ruben Sierra with a 99-mile-an hour fastball. He then left with a blister.

Meanwhile, Florida quickly attacked Contreras.

After a pair of two-out walks in the second, Gonzalez sent a double to right center to score one run. Penny singled in two more.

Pierre's double made it 4-1 in the fourth. Wilson's error during a rundown of Ivan Rodriguez - he hurried his throw to an empty third-base bag - left runners at second and third, and a Lowell blooper off Chris Hammond drove them in for a 6-1 lead.

Thursday's box

Marlins 6, Yankees 4

New York	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Jeter ss	4	2	3	1	1	0	.409
EWilson 2b	4	0	2	1	1	0	.500
BWilliams cf	4	0	1	1	0	0	.429
Matsui lf	5	0	0	0	0	0	.316
Posada c	4	0	1	0	0	1	.133
NJohnson 1b	4	1	2	0	0	1	.357
KGarcia rf	3	0	1	0	0	1	.273
ASoriano rf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.158
ABoone 3b	4	0	1	0	0	0	.150
DWells p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Dellucci ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Contreras p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JRivera ph	1	0	0	0	0	0	.167
CHammnd p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sierra ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.333
Nelson p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
JaGiambi ph	1	1	1	1	0	0	.267
Totals	37	4	12	4	2	5

Florida	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Pierre cf	3	0	1	1	1	0	.353
LCastillo 2b	4	0	0	0	0	1	.143
IRodriguez c	4	1	1	0	0	2	.263
Cabrera rf	4	0	1	0	0	1	.200
Willis p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Looper p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Urbina p	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Conine lf	3	1	1	0	1	0	.412
Lowell 3b	3	1	1	2	1	1	.150
DeLee 1b	3	2	1	0	1	1	.250
AGonzalez ss	4	1	2	1	0	1	.222
Penny p	2	0	1	2	0	0	.500
JEncarnacn rf	1	0	0	0	0	1	.250
Totals	31	6	9	6	4	8

New York	100	000	102	-	4	12	1
Florida	030	120	00x	-	6	9	1

E-EWilson (1), DeLee (1). LOB-New York 9, Florida 6. 2B-EWilson (1), Pierre (2), Conine (1), AGonzalez (2). HR-JaGiambi (1), off Looper. RBIs-Jeter (2), EWilson (1), BWilliams (5), JaGiambi (1), Pierre (3), Lowell 2 (2), AGonzalez (2), Penny 2 (2). CS-AGonzalez (1). S-Penny. SF-BWilliams. GIDP-EWilson, DeLee. DP-New York 2, Florida 1.

New York	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
DWells	1	0	0	0	0	0	8	3.38
Contreras L, 0-1	3	5	4	4	3	4	65	5.68
CHammond	2	2	2	0	0	0	21	0.00
Nelson	2	2	0	0	1	4	41	0.00
Florida	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Penny W, 2-0	7	8	2	1	2	4	97	2.19
Willis	1	1	0	0	0	1	16	0.00
Looper	1-3	3	2	2	0	0	14	9.82
Urbina S, 2	2-3	0	0	0	0	0	5	6.00

T-3:05. A-65,975 (36,331).

Yankees starter David Wells left Game 5 Thursday night with back pain after one inning.The Associated Press