![](https://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/USATSI_18513738_168390281_lowres.jpg)
Mark Canha. Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY
Mark Canha was hitless through the first two games of New York’s opening series in Miami, as he started 0-for-6 with two strikeouts. The outfielder wasted no time in Saturday’s contest though, putting his mark on the New York Mets’ 6-2 victory over the Marlins. Canha went 3-for-4, with two RBIs and three runs scored, as well as a walk.
The 34-year-old got things started in the top of the second, ripping a 100-mph double down the left field line. Canha would eventually come around to score on a sacrifice fly Omar Narváez, giving the Mets an early 1-0 lead. He reached base via a walk to open the top of the fourth, and scored on an RBI single from Narváez, once again.
Canha then got his first run batted in of this season in the fifth, driving Pete Alonso home on a single that dropped right in front of Marlins’ right fielder Jesús Sánchez. This put the Mets ahead 4-2. The exclamation point would come in the seventh, when Canha took an 0-2 pitch from Braxton Garrett and hit it over the fence in left center field. The shot went 403 feet and left the bat at 101.3 mph.
Cahna makes it 5-2 in the 7th!! pic.twitter.com/jaS9rdmbDT
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 1, 2023
“I like this ballpark. I like playing here. Good batter’s box, good batter’s eye. I think I do see the ball well here,” Canha said. In 11 career games down in Miami, he is now slashing .256/.317/.512 (.829 OPS) with three home runs and 10 RBIs.
The Mets needed an offense spark after their struggles in Friday’s loss, and Canha certainly provided that. In 13 plate appearances, he is now slashing .300/.462/.700 with a home runs, two runs batted in and two walks early in the season. If the veteran outfielder can replicate a season we’ve seen from him in the past (high-.300 OBP and high-.700 OPS), then the Mets will be in a great spot with their third outfielder role.