WHO WON
The blue-hatted, grey jersey’d Mets.
WHAT HAPPENED, METS PITCHING BEATS MARLINS BATTING
It’s not that Logan Verrett dominated the Marlins. He didn’t. He did, however, give the Mets five solid innings of work while locked in what one might call a pitchers-duel with Marlins pitcher Adam Conley. Verrett was able to hold the Marlins to two hits and didn’t allow a run before the sixth inning rolled around. At that point, he gave up a wall-banging double to J.T. Realmuto and a two-run homerun to Christian Yelich. He wasn’t overpowering, but he was able to induce a bunch of grounders and keep the Marlins within reach. There’s value in passing the ball to a very solid Mets bullpen, anyhow.
Speaking of the bullpen, Hansel Robles and Addison Reed kept the Marlins off of the board in the late innings of this one. The only hit allowed by either took place on the first batter Robles faced after taking over for Verrett—a single by Giancarlo Stanton where he would ultimately be thrown out at 2nd base trying to stretch it into a double and catch Neil Walker off-guard. It’s worth noting that the backend of the Mets bullpen—Robles and Reed—have been absolutely phenomenal of late. Robles hasn’t allowed an earned run in the nine innings he’s pitched in July, while Reed has been even better. Not only has Reed not allowed a run in 11.2 innings since June 23rd, but he has only allowed four base runners throughout that entire span. Needless to say, the Mets have had little trouble bridging the gap from starter to the 9th inning, which can really help the backend of the rotation in its current state. Then came Jeurys Familia, who just wanted to make it a little more interesting following a misplay in leftfield by Yoenis Céspedes that resulted in a Yelich lead-off double in the ninth. Overall, though, Familia’s command didn’t scream amazing, and he ended up allowing the winning run to come to the plate before everything was said and done. That being said, he was able to work out of it en route to recording his 50th straight save.
WHAT HAPPENED, SAC FLIES AND LONG DRIVES
It’s weird that almost half of the runs for a team that recorded nine hits were scored via the ole sac fly, but that’s baseball. The three hits José Reyes collected in his return to Miami allowed the Mets to have a runner at third with less than two outs twice, and Céspedes cashed in both times. The Mets willingness to trade an out for a run put them in the lead through eight innings; however, James Loney’s willingness to hit a ball 418 feet would put them well enough in front of the Marlins. That pinch-hit two-run homer turned out to be just enough insurance on the one-run lead they had held, as Familia ended up surrendering one in the 9th. It was an overall productive day for Mets hitters, though, as Wilmer Flores and Neil Walker were the only position players in the starting lineup to not record a hit.
WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY
Logan Verrett and the Mets bullpen were able to hold the Marlins to three runs, which turned out to be just enough thanks to a late two-run homer by Loney. Familia made it interesting in the end; however, he was able to overcome and finish off a 5-3 win for the Mets.
WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY
I know it isn’t quite the Logan Verrett-Adam Conley match up we were all looking forward to from yesterday, but the Mets will send Jacob deGrom to the mound to face José Fernandez for the second game the series. A Mets win today would not only clinch a series victory, as well as a successful road-trip, but it would move the Mets back into 2nd place behind the Washington Nationals.
Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports