Jake Burger hit a home run and doubled to help the Miami Marlins defeat the New York Mets 6-4 on Friday night.
Nick Fortes contributed with two hits and an RBI, while Jazz Chisholm Jr. had two singles and a stolen base for Miami. Despite having the worst record in the NL at 33-63 before Friday’s game, the Marlins managed to overcome Jeff McNeil’s two home runs for the Mets.
“I think our competitive spirit showed up today,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker remarked. “We didn’t just want to go through the motions this season. We wanted to compete out there.”
Trailing 5-4 in the eighth inning, New York threatened against Miami reliever Calvin Faucher. José Iglesias walked and McNeil reached on an infield single, advancing on a wild pitch by Faucher. However, Iglesias was tagged out at home while trying to score on Harrison Bader’s grounder to shortstop Xavier Edwards.
Tanner Scott relieved Faucher and ended the Mets’ rally by retiring Francisco Lindor on a pop-out. Scott, Miami’s NL All-Star representative, also pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 15th save of the season.
“Tanner — I’ve said it before — he’s one of the top relievers in the big leagues,” Schumaker praised. “I considered keeping him out there for five outs, but it wouldn’t have been fair to him.”
Nick Fortes added an RBI single off Dedniel Nuñez in the eighth inning to extend the Marlins’ lead.
The Mets, now 49-47, have rebounded strongly with a 25-12 record since falling to a season-low 11 games under .500 on June 2. Miami reliever Anthony Bender (4-2) earned the win after getting the final out in the fifth inning.
The Marlins had built a 4-0 lead, which the Mets narrowed with McNeil’s solo homer and J.D. Martinez’s sacrifice fly against Edward Cabrera in the fifth inning.
Cabrera was removed after issuing his fifth walk of the game with two outs in the fifth inning. He gave up two runs and five hits in his outing.
Burger’s home run to lead off the fifth inning extended Miami’s lead before McNeil struck again with a two-run homer against reliever Andrew Nardi in the sixth inning.
