Christian Yelich turned in quite an all-around performance that the Miami Marlins hope will help them turn the calendar on an very bad August.
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NEW YORK (AP) – Even when things are starting to fall into place for the surging New York Mets, another impactful injury casted a dark cloud over what should have been a jubilant clubhouse following one of the biggest wins of the year.
With the loss, the Mets fell two games behind the Cardinals for the National League’s second wild-card spot, with the Marlins another game back.
“It’s a new month, man”, Yelich said. Hopefully September’s better. Nice to get off on the right foot.
Pitching-wise, Bartolo Colon allowed only two runs in seven innings, with a sixth-inning homer by Christian Yelich producing the only earned run. In the bottom of the second inning, Yelich made a stellar diving catch in center field to rob deGrom of a hit. The Mets have leapfrogged the Marlins and Pittsburgh Pirates in the standings in recent days, so no one stands between the Mets and the teams who now own the wild-card spots. “We’ve just got to win games”.
“Going on streaks like this is exciting”, said Johnson, who was reacquired from Atlanta this season. “Because one’s going to”. The Mets made it interesting when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a pinch hit htwo run home run off Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning. The Mets gave deGrom a week in between starts in hopes the rest would do him good – he was actually slated to get a few more days, but Steven Matz’ ailments forced him back into the rotation sooner – so it’s unclear when the club may set his next start.
“I’m jealous of you guys”, Wright said.
But Collins could tell something was off. He had allowed 13 runs on 25 hits over 9.2 innings in starts at San Francisco and St. Louis. “That’s not Jake, and that’s the thing that we’ve been watching. That’s been the big issue”, he said. He allowed three runs on six hits and four walks with six strikeouts in five innings to lose his third consecutive start. He has lost three straight starts, tagged for a total of 16 runs, 31 hits and six walks in just 14 2/3 innings.
Johnson’s full-count, bases-loaded, three-run double in the eighth lifted the Mets to the win. He doubled in his first at-bat, but later rapped into a bases-loaded 1-2-3 double play.
The downward trend continued in the fifth after he recorded two quick outs. All three came on different pitches – changeup, fastball, slider – but all three went to left field, the opposite field for the lefty-hitting Yelich.
Ozuna is batting.268 with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs.
But Yelich struck again in the seventh, blasting a three-run, opposite-field bomb off lefty reliever Josh Smoker to open up a 6-1 lead for the Marlins. He went 2-for-4 for the second straight game and drove in two runs. He’s getting treatment and could play this weekend at Cleveland.
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“I think it was just a matter of time, honestly”, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. Earlier in the day, NY second baseman Neil Walker said he needed season-ending surgery for a herniated disk. To make room for Hood on the 40-man roster, the Marlins designated LHP Raudel Lazo for assignment. Salas was 3-6 with a 4.47 ERA with the Angels but has four saves and a 2.93 ERA since the All-Star Game.
