The Marlins were powered by Justin Bour, the left-handed-hitting first baseman, who smashed his second opposite-field two-run of the game in the seventh inning. The first one came against the Mets starter Jacob deGrom in the fifth inning to give the Marlins a one-run lead. After the Mets tied the score an inning later, Bour blasted his second shot off the Mets reliever Jacob Rhame to give the Marlins a two-run lead.
That quickly evaporated following the swings of Flores and Cabrera off the Marlins reliever Kyle Barraclough. Cespedes, who has been battling a cold since late last week, came to bat an inning later with two men on base and added the go-ahead hit off the Marlins reliever Brad Ziegler.
It marked the Mets’ fifth comeback win of the season. Of the 23 innings the Mets have allowed a run, they have scored the next time they bat 12 times.
“It’s just a relaxed confidence,” Mets Manager Mickey Callaway said. “Guys aren’t pressing. And when you do that, you play at your best.”
Cespedes has pressed at the plate, often ending up late on fastballs and ahead on breaking balls. He has struck out 20 times already this season. He said he had recovered from the fever that bothered him late last week, but he still suffered from a sore throat and felt congested. He did not feel like his flulike symptoms had been the cause of his slump.
“The only way I can get out of this is by playing,” he said.
Callaway tried giving Cespedes a day off twice this week. Each time, Callaway said, Cespedes “looked at me like I was nuts.” Cespedes’s conviction persuaded Callaway.
Regardless, the Mets have won with limited contributions from such stars as deGrom and Cespedes, who have not yet performed up to their typical standards. DeGrom allowed four runs over six innings on Tuesday, all in a hard luck fifth inning.
Earlier in the day, the Mets made a surprising roster move. They needed a fresh arm for a bullpen that has carried a heavy workload so far, but in order to make room to call up right-handed pitching prospect Corey Oswalt they demoted outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who had played well, to Class AAA Las Vegas so he could play everyday.
Oswalt wasn’t needed. After the Mets clawed back, Jeurys Familia, the Mets’ reliever, fired a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.
“When you’re hot, you need to win as many games as you can,” Flores said, adding later: “We need to keep this going. Teams we need to beat, we’ve got to beat team.”
Continue reading the main storyClick here for more information
Leave a Reply