Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

It was not a great day at the office for the New York Mets (52-32), who lost by a score of 5-2 against the Miami Marlins (40-42) on Friday night. Chris Bassitt performed valiantly in his return from the COVID-19 IL, but the offense left plenty of runners on the basepaths and mustered only two runs.

Making his first start since June 25, Bassitt ran into trouble in the second inning. He allowed an RBI double to Bryan De La Cruz to give the Marlins an early 1-0 lead. However, Bassitt induced two weak groundouts to end the inning, stranding runners at second and third and limiting any further damage.

That lead did not last long, as Brandon Nimmo launched a solo home run off Marlins starter Pablo López in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. It was Nimmo’s eighth home run of the season and his third homer in his last five games. Starling Marte followed up with a double, extending his hitting streak to eight games, but he was stranded at third base.

The Mets had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the fourth inning, as they found themselves with runners on the corners and one out. Unfortunately, López got back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat. Through the first four innings, the Mets were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

As the Mets were squandering their chances to score, the Marlins were capitalizing on theirs. Joey Wendle scored De La Cruz on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning to put the Marlins ahead by a score of 2-1.

Bassitt looked very solid on the mound, but he could not get De La Cruz out. The Marlins outfielder hit his third double of the game in the seventh inning, ending Bassitt’s night. Drew Smith came into the game and got a clutch double play ball to get out of the inning unscathed and keep the Mets within a run of the Marlins.

Unfortunately, Smith could not carry that momentum into the eighth inning, as he surrendered a two-run home run to Garrett Cooper to make it a 4-1 lead for the Marlins. Smith has allowed a home run in three straight appearances.

Francisco Lindor made a bid to bring the Mets back into the game, crushing a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Marlins’ lead to 4-2. Lindor is up to 14 home runs on the season, but this was just his second RBI in his last 12 games played. The Mets proceeded to load the bases with two outs, but the comeback effort was short-lived as Eduardo Escobar popped out to end the rally.

The Marlins tacked on an insurance run against Joely Rodriguez in the top of the ninth inning, as Jacob Stallings executed a safety squeeze bunt to make it a 5-2 game. That run did not matter all that much, as the Mets failed to score in the bottom of the ninth off Marlins closer Tanner Scott.

All five hits that the Mets had on Friday went for extra bases, but the offense left 10 runners on base and finished the night 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Player of the Game: Chris Bassitt

Bassitt appeared to have not missed a beat despite his time on the IL, pitching into the seventh inning for the fourth consecutive start. He allowed just two runs across 6 1/3 innings, shutting down several Marlins rallies with timely pitches and dropping his ERA to 3.94 on the season. On another night, that probably would have been enough for a win.

Final line for Bassitt: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 K

On Deck

The Mets continue their four-game series against the Marlins on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. The Mets will honor Keith Hernandez prior to the game by retiring his number 17. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on SNY.

The Mets will have Carlos Carrasco on the mound, while the Marlins will run out Braxton Garrett.