Start fast, roll to much-needed win
The Marlins have been a great source of swagger — just not for themselves. The Mets were the latest team this season to get a boost from playing Miami, and they needed it badly.
The Mets entered their threegame series against the Marlins in a downward spiral, winning three of their last 10 games and four of their last 14. The team’s recent slide was so pitiful that COO Jeff Wilpon summoned a meeting with general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and skipper Mickey Callaway to demand change before the homestand had begun.
The club quickly saw a flip in its misfortune when the Mets jumped out for an eight-run rally in the first inning of their 11-2 win Friday night at Citi Field.
The first eight men to face Marlins starter Pablo Lopez all reached base. The first-inning madness was highlighted by shortstop Amed Rosario’s first career grand slam, which gave the Mets an early 7-0 lead. The Mets batted around the order and sent 13 men to the plate against Lopez.
Friday was the first time the Mets scored eight or more runs in the first inning since June 16, 1989 in Philadelphia. It was the first time they’ve done so at home since July 12, 1979 vs. the Dodgers. The Mets fell one run shy of their franchise record of nine runs scored in the first inning.
Jeff McNeil started the eightrun rally with a risky slide into first base. After hitting a soft bunt grounder to Neil Walker, McNeil evaded his tag. He was called out trying to go to third on J.D. Davis’ single that inning, but McNeil crushed his second homer of the year on a solo shot to right-center in the third.
“Anytime you start the game with an exciting play, it kind of gets the guys going,” McNeil said. “Everything was clicking. Getting out to a good lead is something that’s been tough for us, so it was huge.”
The Marlins, taking a crack at a rebuild, helped several Mets hitters find their form on Friday. Michael Conforto was 2 for his last 16 when he launched his seventh homer of the year to the right-field seats in the second inning. It was his first homer since April 21 against the Cardinals.
Wilson Ramos, possibly the slowest player on the Mets, legged out an infield single to third base to score a run in the first inning. He finished the game 2for-5 with an RBI.
When all was said and done, every hitter in the Mets’ starting lineup had recorded at least one hit — including their dominant starter.
It was the best of both worlds as Zack Wheeler stretched out to pitch into the seventh inning. Wheeler struck out 11 batters on Friday and held the Marlins to two earned runs on nine hits with one walk over seven innings and 107 pitches.
The win also marked Wheeler’s fifth quality start over his last six outings. The right-hander has a 2.93 ERA in that period. Friday was Wheeler’s third double-digit strikeout game of the season and the seventh of his career.
FONT ONCE MORE
Wilmer Font, a 28-year-old journeyman acquired from the Rays, is scheduled to make his second start for the Mets on Tuesday for the series opener against the Nationals.
Font posted a solid outing against the Padres in his Mets debut on Wednesday. The righthander held San Diego to two earned runs on three hits with a strikeout over four innings pitched. Font was limited to 60 pitches after tossing 59 pitches for the Rays just a week before.
The 6-4, 265-pounder was 2-3 with a 5.93 ERA in 19 games, five starts with 36 strikeouts with the Dodgers, A’s and Rays in 2018. Font had a 1.71 ERA in five starts last year.