The New York Mets (83-61) defeated the Miami Marlins (61-83) by a score of 4-3 Monday night at Citi Field, for their eighth consecutive win.
Pitching:
Logan Verrett got the start for the Mets and pitched very well, retiring the first nine Marlins in order. He went 5.0 very strong innings, allowing one earned run on 3 hits and one walk, while striking out 3. He was pinch hit for in the bottom of the 5th inning after throwing only 63 pitches, as Terry Collins wanted to get Sean Gilmartin some work.
Thus, in came Gilmartin. He allowed a leadoff bunt base hit to Dee Gordon, who then promptly stole second base for his 51st SB on the year. After a lineout by Christian Yelich, the Mets opted to walk Martin Prado and pitch to lefty Justin Bour instead. The plan worked at first, as Bour flew out to right, however back-to-back RBI singles by Derek Dietrich and J.T. Realmuto gave the Marlins a 3-1 lead.
Hansel Robles pitched a perfect 7th inning and was awarded the win tonight, striking out one. Addison Reed then pitched a perfect 8th, also striking out one. Reed’s been solid since we acquired him.
Jeurys Familia came in to preserve a 4-3 lead in the 9th, which is just what he did, recording his 41st save of the year. He tossed a perfect inning which included a strikeout of future Hall-of-Famer Ichiro Suzuki on a 94mph splitter. Before walking back to the dugout, Ichiro gave Familia a “what the hell was that pitch?” look. We don’t believe it either, slugger, but you’re not going to hit it whatever it is.
Offense:
Yoenis Cespedes hit another home run, so there’s that. It was his 35th homer and 103rd RBI of the year, and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning.
After the Marlins took a 3-1 lead in the top of the 6th, the Mets responded in the bottom of the inning. With two outs and nobody on, Juan Uribe doubled down the line. Then Travis d’Arnaud blasted a home run to right-center field to tie the game at 3-3, his 12th of the year.
With the game tied in the bottom of the 7th inning, it was time to start thinking about who the hero would be tonight. Cespedes? Flores? Murphy? Well, tonight it was Captain America himself, David Wright. With runners on first and second, he crushed a ground rule double to center field, missing a home run by only a few feet. It scored one run and gave the Mets a 4-3 lead, which would stick.
Notes:
This is the Mets 8th win in a row! The win lowered their magic number to 10 games, however as the Nationals and Phillies are currently tied, that number could decrease to 9 with a Nats loss. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Go Phils!
Jeurys Familia saved his 41st game of the season tonight. He is on pace to easily surpass the Mets franchise record for saves in a season, set by fellow flamethrower Armando Benitez (43) in 2001.
On Deck:
The Mets will send Jacob deGrom (13-7, 2.40 ERA) to the bump to face off against Tom Koehler (9-13, 3.99 ERA) and the Marlins Tuesday night at 7:10 pm in Flushing. Did someone say 9th straight win?
