Marlins show life, but still on short end of the series
MIAMI -- Before spring training, both the New York Mets and Miami Marlins expected to compete for a wild-card spot -- and maybe even challenge the Washington Nationals for the National League East crown.
Despite a late rally in an 8-6 loss on Wednesday night, the Marlins sunk to a season-low 22 games under .500 after being swept by the Mets to conclude a 2-7 homestand.
Entering the ninth, New York outscored Miami 25-2 and outhit its division rival 39-17. At the trade deadline, the Marlins dealt impending free-agent right-handers Mat Latos and Dan Haren. The Mets acquired outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to help the offense and righty Tyler Clippard to bolster the bullpen.
Instead of a sea of orange and black in the stands, Mets fans took over Marlins Park over the three-day span, lending support to the notion that South Florida is the unofficial Sixth Borough because of its influx of New York transplants.
With the Mets chasing their first postseason berth since 2006, it was hard to tell whether the home team had done something good or bad as many cheers and chants coincided with a Matt Harvey strikeout or Ruben Tejada hit.
"They have taken advantage of the opportunities that they have," manager Dan Jennings said of the Mets. "Unfortunately it hasn't been that type of year for us. When you at least show some fight there. We played with these guys, we've had some success against them this year. We know we can play with them. It just hasn't turned out to be that way for us this year."
In the series, three rookies pitched out of the bullpen for the Marlins. Lefty Chris Narveson, who hadn't appeared in a big-league game since April 2013, relieved starter David Phelps for 3 2/3 scoreless frames. Brad Hand, who hadn't made a start in two months, got the nod on Tuesday.
Phelps, who was getting treatment when the Marlins sent 11 batters to the plate in the ninth, recorded his career-high 18th start of the season. Injuries have played a large role in his presence in the rotation. He called Wednesday's outing all the more frustrating because he got chased in the fifth after surrendering a three-run homer to Juan Uribe to give the Mets a 7-0 lead.
"It's good to see fight," Phelps said. "I don't think any loss -- in my opinion -- I don't see losses as a moral victory. It's exciting to see our guys fight like that against some quality arms right there. It's nice to string together a bunch of hits and runs that's for sure."
Miami came into that ninth 1-59 when trailing after eight innings. The offense mustered just three hits off Harvey. New York, winners of five in a row, seemed destined to maintain its position atop the NL East.
But the Marlins made things interesting -- something they haven't done much of in 2015 like they did in an overachieving 2014 campaign. As will be the case over the final two months, young players will get opportunities to showcase themselves for 2016 and beyond. Miami can try to play spoiler -- something it did in the late 2000s against the Mets.
Derek Dietrich singled and Justin Bour drove him in with a one-out double. Martin Prado and Ichiro Suzuki produced back-to-back hits. After Adeiny Hechavarria struck out, Jeff Mathis worked a walk. Pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas came through with a bases-clearing double. Consecutive hits by Dee Gordon and Dietrich brought Christian Yelich to the plate as the winning run. He grounded out to first to end the rally and ballgame.
"It showed a lot of heart and character by this ballclub to be down 8-0," Jennings said. "It would've been easy to cash it in right there, just to finish the game and get it over. But I'm proud of the way these guys showed heart and didn't quit. They battled back and we brought the winning run to the plate there in the ninth inning being down 8-0. Really good to see the quality at-bats we had there late. Hopefully we can carry that with us to Atlanta and start a new series.
"When you're down like that it's a true test of character when you see guys that are hungry that show the passion not to quit. It's great. You see each other, see those guys pick each other up, and that's huge. That ninth inning, Dietrich leading it off getting two hits that inning. Bour with a big double in the gap. Matty had a great at-bat to draw a walk and Rojas with that three-RBI double that was huge. Great to see. We just put ourselves into too big of a hole early."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
