Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets are now riding a five-game winning streak after beating the Marlins 4-0 on Saturday. A pair of former Cleveland teammates were at the heart of that success last night. Both Carlos Carrasco and Francisco Lindor played key roles in what was another big win for the Mets, who improved to 63-37 on the year.

It was a night where a perfect pitching performance got the run support it so deserved, and it was also a night where both Carrasco and Lindor underlined their importance to the Mets this year. Both players have been dominant all year long and their individual success continued on Saturday in big ways.

Starting with Carrasco, who really stole the show. July was a superb month for the veteran who absolutely dominated. He headed into Saturday with an 11-inning scoreless streak. Carrasco had only given up a combined total of three runs in his four previous starts. Well, more dominance followed against Miami as Carrasco worked his way out of a jam in the first inning, escaping without any damage after allowing two runners to get on base.

It proved to be plain sailing from there as the righty cruised through inning after inning without too much trouble. He did a good job of rotating through his arsenal of pitches. While he leaned on his sinker 33% of the time, it was his lethal slider that did the most damage with a 60% whiff rate. And the secret to Carrasco’s success both on Saturday and this season in general? Just take it a pitch at a time.

“I go pitch-by-pitch and that’s what I did (on Saturday),” Carrasco said. “I was able to take control instead of letting them take control of me and throw the best pitch I can. I missed a couple of spots but they couldn’t hit it but everything was good. (Tomás) Nido called the right pitches.”

Carrasco entered the eighth inning having still held the Marlins scoreless and, while Charles Leblanc did hit a double, Seth Lugo was able to come into the game and finish the job. For Carrasco, he left the game having pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.

He extended his scoreless inning streak to 18 2/3 innings and also lowered his ERA to a stellar 0.90 for the month of July. While it was arguably the righty’s finest outing of the year, it was also historic given that it marked Carrasco’s 100th career win. He is also just the eighth Venezuelan-born pitcher to reach that milestone. A pretty special night all around.

“It means a lot,” Carrasco said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and it means even more getting to do it with a special group playing hard for us. And I couldn’t do it without them.”

Carrasco is an easy guy to root for given that he’s been in the majors for 13 years and he’s a great clubhouse guy. Plus, after initially struggling in Queens, the veteran has turned it around and then some this year. For Lindor, who has known Carrasco a long time dating back to their Cleveland days, that doesn’t come as a surprise.

“He executes,” Lindor said. “He has a plan and he’s executing it. Even if he gives up a hit early in the game he stays on it. He’s very smart. When he needs a double play he looks for a double play, if he needs a strikeout he looks for a strikeout. He’s reliable year after year and I’m happy for him.”

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Speaking of Lindor, the shortstop also had a big impact on this game. While Carrasco will steal most of the headlines, and rightly so, it was Lindor’s ability to come up in clutch situations that really proved the difference at the plate. After all, we’ve seen only recently Mets’ starters pitch gems only to be let down by a lack of run support at the plate.

That wasn’t the case this time around and it was largely down to Lindor. The four-time All-Star was locked in offensively all night as he hit a single in the top of the third to score Tomás Nido and double the Mets lead. It was Lindor’s 68th RBI of the year. He would hit another single in the sixth with his on-base percentage now a solid .334, but his best and most important work would come in the eighth inning.

With the Mets still holding a slender 2-0 lead, and ace closer Edwin Díaz needing a day off, there was an urgent need for an insurance run and Lindor proved to be the man who kept his cool in the heat of battle. With one out and no one on base, the shortstop absolutely crushed a fastball 424 feet with an exit velocity of 106.8 MPH. It was Lindor’s 17th home run of the season and he’s now fifth in the National League with 69 RBI.

Such a big hit at a critical time in the game has been what Lindor has built his game on this year, and the two-time Gold Glove winner also pulled off a dazzling double play in the seventh inning as he continues to contribute on both sides of the game. And, speaking after the game, Lindor was only too happy to help out his teammates in a big spot.

“They’re very important,” Lindor said of his late-game homer. “If we go to the ninth up 2-0 I think Edwin has to come in, you know, and then we probably won’t be able to use him (on Sunday). Those couple of runs at the end helped and we got to do it (Sunday).”

While much has gone right for the Mets so far this year, a lot of their success can be pinned to the resurgence of two former Cleveland teammates in Carrasco and Lindor. Carrasco has stepped up and helped to carry the starting rotation in the absence of Jacob deGrom. Meanwhile, Lindor has been a run-producing machine and has consistently come up clutch when his team has needed him the most, as was the case on Saturday. And don’t be surprised if the two long-time friends have a big say in what the Mets hope will be a deep postseason run.