Mets hold on in ninth inning to earn series split from Marlins
Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets celebrates with teammates Sean Manaea and Luis Severino after hitting a home run against the Miami Marlins during the ninth inning on Monday. Credit: TNS/Megan Briggs
MIAMI — For the Mets, a fascinating and difficult season is about to grow even more so.
They survived Monday with a 6-4 win over the Marlins, escaping with a split of the four-game series that marked the end of a plainly easy portion of the schedule.
Up next is a stretch in New York that — based on the quality of competition plus the main event that is the July 30 trade deadline — represents perhaps their most important of the season.
It’ll be nine games in nine days against the Yankees (two in the Bronx), Atlanta (four) and the Twins (three). The deadline for teams to swap players is 6 p.m. next Tuesday, right before the second game against Minnesota.
Just as the Mets take a step up in opponent difficulty, they also are due to get back righthander Kodai Senga, who is scheduled to make his season debut Friday at Citi Field after missing the first four months with shoulder and triceps injuries.
They also will welcome the front office’s late acquisitions — whatever form those take, be it a reliever or two or a bench bat or some other wild card.
Speaking of wild cards: The Mets (51-48) remain in playoff position, holding the sixth and final would-be berth in the National League.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a really good spot to go out and get some players,” Jeff McNeil said. “Hopefully we can do that and at the end of it be a better team.”
Francisco Lindor said he has “zero” curiosity about how the deadline dust will settle. He’ll stick to shortstop.
“It’s heavy on the front office. That’s their job. They have to deal with that,” he said. “Let them make the decisions they have to make. We’re here to play the game the right way and hopefully we are in a position to help them make better decisions.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza said: “The same mindset: One day at a time. You come to the ballpark. You prepare. You go out, you compete. And you worry about the task at hand, which is day by day.”
In the finale against Miami (35-65), Edwin Diaz began the bottom of the ninth inning with a three-run lead and allowed the Marlins to load the bases with one out, bringing the potential winning run to the plate. He retired Josh Bell on an RBI groundout and Jake Burger on a pop to second to end the game.
“They made him work, but he kept making pitches,” Mendoza said. “He got the last out of the game.”
The Mets scored early and often in support of lefthander David Peterson, who held the Marlins to two runs in five innings despite a ton of baserunners (six hits, four walks, one hit batter). Lindor slugged two solo home runs to lead the way.
McNeil drove in the first three runs with a two-run homer into the upper deck in rightfield in the second and a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
McNeil had five home runs before the All-Star break (95 games) and has three since the break (four games). He credited this surge to a recent change in philosophy, trying to hit the ball hard instead of trying to merely make contact.
“You see a player now who is relaxed, who is having fun,” Mendoza said. “He’s playing baseball again. It was hard for him, but credit to him. He continued to grind, he continued to work, never put his head down. Now, finally, we see the player that we know he’s capable of .”
Lindor referred to McNeil as “Happy Jeff.”
“He seems happier. I like Happy Jeff,” he said. “Second-half Jeff can be very dangerous.”
McNeil said with a chuckle: “Yeah, Happy Jeff is good. Always good to get a W and contribute. That was nice.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
