Miami ? Ivan Rodriguez circled the bases pumping his fist, then pointed at the jubilant, towel-twirling crowd before he crossed the plate.

That was in the first inning after Rodriguez’s two-run homer. Nearly four hours later, he found himself in the middle of an even bigger celebration.

The catcher nicknamed “Pudge” lined a two-run single with two outs in the 11th inning Friday to cap a comeback by the Florida Marlins, who beat San Francisco, 4-3, and took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five NL playoff series.

Squandered opportunities and a defensive blunder hurt the Giants, and Rodriguez did the rest. He even threw out a runner trying to steal third.

“Having that kind of game made me feel pretty good,” Rodriguez said. “It was one of the best games of my career.”

Edgardo Alfonzo’s RBI single in the top of the 11th put San Francisco ahead 3-2, but right fielder Jose Cruz Jr. dropped a routine fly to start Florida’s comeback. The Giants stranded a record 18 runners, including at least one in scoring position in each of the final seven innings.

With Barry Bonds and the defending NL champions on the brink of elimination, right-hander Jason Schmidt will probably start today on three days’ rest. He threw a three-hit shutout to beat the Marlins in Game 1.

Rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis will pitch for Florida.

“We lost a game that we should have won,” Giants manager Felipe Alou said. “Against the wall — that’s where we are.”

Florida's Ivan Rodriguez slams his batting helmet as he celebrates his game-winning hit against San Francisco. Rodriguez hit a two-out, two-run single in the 11th inning to lift the Marlins past the Giants, 4-3, Friday in Miami.

After Rodriguez homered, the Marlins were shut out until Cruz gave them an opening in the 11th. He drifted toward the foul line, tried to make a one-handed catch of Jeff Conine’s fly and dropped the ball — to the surprise and delight of 61,488 fans.

“It was trailing away, but it was a ball I should have caught,” Cruz said. “I’ve never dropped one like that. It hit my glove and fell out. I should have caught it, and I didn’t.”

Tim Worrell walked Alex Gonzalez. Miguel Cabrera sacrificed and Juan Pierre was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Luis Castillo grounded back to Worrell, who made a lunging, barehanded stop and forced Conine at the plate. But Rodriguez lined a 1-2 fastball for a hit to right field, and Cruz’s throw home was wide as Pierre slid in headfirst with the winning run.

“I didn’t get the job done,” Worrell said. “I left a fastball up, and he went with it.”

As the crowd celebrated, the Marlins poured out of the dugout to mob Rodriguez, a 10-time All-Star who joined Florida this season after 12 years with the Texas Rangers.

“He showed today why he’s a Hall of Famer,” teammate Derrek Lee said.

“He put us on his back,” Pierre said. “He came through for us big-time.”

The finish was reminiscent of the 1997 playoffs, when the Marlins twice beat San Francisco in their final at-bat.