EARLY RISERS
Mets clobber Marlins with huge first inning
The Mets brought the wood to Citi Field and benefited from multiple Marlins miscues to cruise to an 11-3 win Saturday night, claiming their sixth victory in the past eight games.
For the first time since August 2007, the Mets have scored at least seven runs in five straight games and will attempt to complete their first home sweep of the season Sunday.
“It’s been a welcome sight for the offense to surge here lately,” said Jay Bruce, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs. “When you score a lot of runs, the pitchers are usually making mistakes. It’s whether you’re taking advantage of it or not, and we’re doing a good job of that lately.”
The Mets’ offense hasn’t needed much help lately, but Miami made it much easier to produce another big night.
On the game’s first at-bat, Marlins first baseman Justin Bour was unable to field Michael Conforto’s grounder cleanly — the first of three Miami errors — and the Mets immediately capital- ized, with Asdrubal Cabrera and Bruce blasting back-toback RBI doubles. By the time Conforto drew a bases loaded walk in his second at-bat of the first inning, the Mets had scored five runs against Odrisamer Despaigne (0-1).
Leading 6-3 in the sixth inning — following home runs by Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna — the Mets capitalized on a two-out error by Martin Prado, with Curtis Granderson scoring on a passed ball, and Conforto adding his second basesloaded walk of the game. In the seventh, Prado failed to turn an inning-ending double play, with Bruce then delivering a two-run double.
The Mets reached base nine times without swinging a bat, and of their 11 runs just six were earned.
“We’re scoring runs a lot of ways,” said Jose Reyes, who went 2-for-5. “We’re not always waiting for the big homer. We’ve been getting on base with a walk, getting two-out hits. That’s the key. Hopefully we’ll stay consistent with that because that’s good to see.”
Starter Robert Gsellman chipped in with more help than the offense has been accustomed to seeing lately.
After five straight games in which the Mets’ starting pitcher had allowed at least five runs, Gsellman (2-2) earned his second straight win despite allowing eight hits and recording just two strikeouts. Gsellman, who was 0-1 with a 6.52 ERA in two previous starts against the Marlins this season, and had a 7.01 ERA in five starts, allowed three runs and no walks in five innings, hitting one batter.
“I felt probably the best I’ve felt all season mechanic-wise,” Gsellman said. “I felt good. I got a lot of ground balls, what I like to see.”
Like in Wednesday’s 16-run outburst in Atlanta, the Mets needed no home runs in their offensive assault. The long balls will be back, Collins said, but until then, the manager is thrilled to see the patience his team is exhibiting so early in the season.
“They’re a lot more disciplined at the plate and guys are getting on base, and guys are driving them in,” Collins said. “Two-out singles, they’ll win you a lot of ballgames, and right now, we’re getting a lot of two-out hits.
“When [it] starts warming up here, we’ll start hitting some homers.”