Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Following an off day, the Mets returned to Citi Field on Tuesday night to begin a short two-game set against the Miami Marlins. With only a one-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, each game’s importance is amplified.

Coming off a rough outing in Milwaukee last week, Carlos Carrasco continued to struggle on the mound. After allowing four earned runs in just three innings, the Mets were not able to to regain the lead at any point in the game, falling 6-4 to Miami.

Carrasco could not command the strike zone in the first inning. With one out, he plunked Miguel Rojas with a breaking ball before allowing back-to-back singles to Brian Anderson and Garrett Cooper. Rojas scored on sacrifice fly to center field in the next at bat. A wild pitch allowed Anderson to score with two outs, making it a 2-0 Marlins lead before the Mets offense received a chance at the plate.

Two singles and an error charged to Eduardo Escobar loaded the bases for Miami in the second inning with no outs. Rojas hit a dribbler leading to the uncommon 1-2-3 double play, James McCann made a quick turn-and-throw to first for the second out of the inning. Another ground ball ended the inning with no further damage.

Carrasco managed to get through the third inning after JJ Bleday belted a two-run homer down the right field line. Carrasco was tagged with four earned runs before exiting the game, putting the Mets in a 4-0 hole.

Pete Alonso gave the Mets a lift in the bottom of the fourth inning. He crushed a three-run shot into the left field seats to put the Mets right back into the game. Opposite field singles from Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor set the table for the polar bear blast.

Pablo López turned in a quality start for the Marlins. He struck out five Mets hitters over six innings of work, while his three earned runs were all due to Alonso’s big fly. López was the winning pitcher in Tuesday’s game.

In his second inning of work out of the bullpen, Trevor Williams ran into trouble in the fifth inning. Anderson led off with a double to left field, followed by a hit by pitch. Cooper was struck in the hand with a fastball and immediately made his way towards the visitor’s dugout to exit the game. Jacob Stallings ripped a single into center field that plated two more runs for the Marlins. The Marlins offense answered right back.

David Peterson and Tylor Megill both got work out of the Mets bullpen. Two guys who will likely have a spot on the Mets postseason roster in a different role than they’re used to. Peterson tossed two scoreless frames allowing one hit and one walk. Megill completed the eighth inning without allowing a run either.

In an unusual turn of events, Marlins lefty reliever Richard Bleier committed three balks that forced in a run in the eighth inning. Jeff McNeil started the scoring with a two-out base hit. He advanced all three bases on those balks to score the fourth run for New York.

Lindor extended his hit streak to 10 straight games. Mark Canha extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games.

Edwin Díaz made an appearance in the top of the ninth inning with the Mets down two runs. With an off day on Monday and Thursday this week, Díaz made quick work of the middle of the Marlins lineup. Despite allowing a two-out double to Bryan De La Cruz, Díaz struck out three allowing no runs.

The Mets’ closer has only allowed one run across six appearances in the month of September. The lone run came on September 1 against the Dodgers.

Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Alonso drove in all three runs for the Mets with his 40th home run of the season. He gave the team a chance to come back after falling down early. It was Alonso’s lone hit of the night.

On Deck

The Mets will finish up the two-game series with Miami on Wednesday. Taijuan Walker (12-5, 3.53 ERA, 114 SO) will make his bid to be the Mets fourth starter in the postseason. Left-hander Jesús Luzardo (3-7, 3.57 ERA, 102 SO) will take the ball for the Marlins. After Tuesday’s results, the Mets and Braves are tied for the division lead.