Marlins slam door quickly
Just like that, the Mets’ dominant hold over the National League East isn’t so dominant anymore.
The Mets lost to the Marlins, 6-3, Monday night in Miami after stranding nine men on base.
Their best chance of the night to tie the game came in the eighth inning. Javier Baez hit a soft grounder to third, but out-sprinted the throw. Two batters later, Dom Smith whacked a single off Marlins reliever Anthony Bass, sending Baez to third. Baez to that point had been racing around with a heel bruise, which he tweaked trying to beat out a throw earlier in the game. Bass walked pinch-hitter Jonathan Villar to load the bases, but then was pulled for Dylan Floro, who got Brandon Drury to ground into a forceout, stranding three runners.
“I think we’ve gotten away from our team and our organization’s approach and we haven’t been aggressive consistently,” Luis Rojas said after the loss. “And when I say aggressive, aggressively just taking A-swings. ... Hitting is an aggressive approach, all the time it is, and you know we’re going to get better just by being aggressive.”
Inning over, NL East lead over the Phillies down to 2.5 games.
The Mets played from behind all night. Starter Tylor Megill gave up back-toback singles, then the third Marlins batter reached on catcher’s inference to load the bases. Before the right-hander could even get his first out, he gave up a grand slam to the fourth batter of the game, Lewis Brinson, who carried a career batting average of .195 into the game. He retired his next three batters, but the damage was already done.
“We trust this guy,” Rojas said of Megill. “This guy’s, you know, had a tough outing there and you saw him keep the same poise, keep attacking batters and gave us five innings after almost having 30 pitches in the first inning.
“So there’s not much to say. I mean, he threw the ball well for me.”
The road back began with Baez, who scored after Marlins pitcher Jesus Luzardo dealt a wild pitch into the dirt that bounced over catcher Alex Jackson. Baez, who initially reached on a walk in the second, beat the throw back home by sliding his leading leg underneath and in between the legs of Luzardo, who covered the plate. Drury’s RBI double two batters later
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knocked in J.D. Davis.
Pete Alonso made the comeback realistic in the top of the third when he crushed a leadoff homer, his 24th of the season, over the left-center field wall.
But the Marlins pulled away again in the next half inning, tagging two more hits and another earned run on Megill before his night was over.
“I take the good with the bad, and, you know, move on,” Megill said. “It’s a learning, playing process.”
The rookie’s night ended after five innings with five runs, four earned, on six hits with four punchouts.
The Mets now find themselves in an interesting position to start the month. The Phillies beat the Nationals on Monday, as well, which cut the Mets lead over them to 2.5 games.
The Mets have three more games against the Marlins before they head to Philadelphia, where the battle for the division will be on.
CASTRO ON COVID LIST: Mets reliever Miguel Castro was added to the COVID list on Monday. After the loss to the Marlins, Rojas said the pitcher woke up with COVID-like symptoms and was put on the list as the team awaits test results. The team recalled Albert Almora as the corresponding move.