Cody Ross slumped into a cozy chair in the visiting clubhouse and, with many of his Florida teammates, watched the ninth inning of the NL East-leading Philadelphia’s game.

No matter the first bus back to the hotel was leaving in 20 minutes, the Marlins are in a playoff race. And boy, is it fun.

Ross hit a three-run homer in a four-run first inning, Ricky Nolasco shut down the Mets into the seventh and the bargain-basement Marlins kept pace in the division with a 6-3 victory over the New York Mets.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look up there after every out in every inning. I just look up there and see what’s going on,” Ross said of scoreboard watching. “I know [the Phillies] tied it up, that they were up by two, and I knew right before we made the final out they were up by one. I mean you got a lot of time on your hands in the outfield.

“All that doesn’t matter if we’re not doing our own business,” he said before tuning into the end of the Phillies’ 6-5 win that kept their six-game lead in the division in tact.

Dan Uggla homered and Nick Johnson had a long RBI double as Florida, with a majors-low $37 million payroll, took their second straight from New York.

The past two Septembers, Florida played a big role in the Mets’ late-season collapses. This season, the Marlins are chasing a playoff spot. They entered Wednesday 5½ games behind Colorado in the wild-card race.

“It’s completely different, but I think we take it the same no matter what situation we’re in,” Nolasco said. “We’re just fortunate we’re in a situation to make the playoffs.”

Well, they’ve still got a chance at the playoffs, but it seems like every time the Marlins win, so do the teams in front of them. At this point, with 6 games remaining against them, the Marlins have to be looking at the Phillies more, especially with how awful their offense has been recently. It’s a long shot, but the season’s not dead by a long shot either.

It would be something if they could go into that final series against the Phillies within 3 games or so. That would be some absolute excellent drama. Not that anyone would notice, of course.

For battling his demons (the Mets, who have given him a lot of trouble in his career), it’s gotta be Ricky. A 6+ inning start is rare these days, so you take what you can get, and Ricky was practically a workhorse today compared to recent performances. Thanks, Enrique!