Back-to-back home runs fuel rally
MIAMI — Christian Yelich gave Giancarlo Stanton a playful punch in the arm as they passed each other in the dugout during a comeback celebration, not nearly their hardest hit of the inning.
Yelich and Stanton whacked back-to-back homers to cap a three-run eighth Saturday night, and the Miami Marlins rallied past the New York Mets 5-4.
“Mine was higher,” Yelich said. “His was straight on a line. It was pretty impressive.”
Miami’s Justin Bour and Marcell Ozuna hit consecutive homers in the second inning, a rarity in pitcher-friendly Marlins Park.
“The s e homers a re n’t l i ke cheapies,” manager Don Mattingly said. “You’re going to have to hit them here.”
Four of the Marlins’ six hits were homers. The long balls spoiled a fine outing by the Mets’ Jacob deGrom, who tied a career high with 13 strikeouts in seven innings and allowed two runs, both homers. “After I gave up those two home runs, I wasn’t very happy and I wanted to strike everybody out,” deGrom said. He remained without a decision in three starts despite an ERA of 1.89.
Miami trailed 4-2 when Miguel Rojas walked with two out in the eighth against Fernando Salas (0-1). Yelich followed with his second homer of the year , pulling a 3-1 pitch into the upper deck, and Stanton’s third homer came on a 3-2 delivery and landed in the center field hedge. The homers came on fastballs as Salas tried to avoid walks.
Miami’s A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his second save. It was the third consecutive onerun game in the series, with the Marlins winning the past t wo after losing in 16 innings.
“A lot of good things are happening,” Mattingly said. “It’s going to be a fun summer.”
Curtis Granderson hit an RBI triple off Adam Conley and came home on a sacrifice fly as the Mets scored twice in the seventh. Asdrubal Cabrera’s solo homer in the eighth against Junichi Tazawa (1-0) put New York ahead 4-2. The Mets have homered in 11 consecutive games and came into the game leading the majors with 21 homers.
Bour hit his first homer leading off the second, and three pitches later Ozuna hit his fifth. Ozuna came into the game leading the majors with 16 RBIs.
Rematch: Conley retired 15 in a row but allowed three runs in six-plus innings. He also pitched in emergency relief in the 16th inning of Thursday’s marathon and took the loss.
“As crazy as it has been for me, the last three days have been some of the most fun I’ve had playing baseball,” Conley said. “Unorthodox situations and extreme circumstances are the kind of things that get me fired up.”
Bitter taste: With the Mets trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Neil Walker became their first base- runner since the second when he reached on a leadoff bunt single. Granderson followed with a triple that glanced off the glove of center fielder Yelich as he tried to make a diving catch on the warning track.
“I ended up eating the whole warning track,” Yelich said. “I got it in my nose, my eyes, my mouth, everywhere.”
T r a i n e r ’s r o o m: Ma r l i n s catcher J.T. Realmuto, who had a walk-off double Friday, sat out because he wasn’t feeling well. The Marlins suspected a bout of food poisoning.
Mets MLB home run leader Yoenis Cespedes was back in the lineup after missing one start because of the flu. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.