He now has five home runs in his last eight games.
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Over at Citi Field on Tuesday, we’ve got Major League Baseball game two between the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets.
Curtis Granderson came off the bench and homered twice, Jose Reyes had four hits and the surging New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Tuesday night. It’s getting a bit scary for the Orioles, who have lost four of five and are now only one game ahead of the Tigers and two games ahead of the Royals and Astros for the second wild card.
The Mets (68-64) have won the first two contests of a four-game series against the Marlins to improve to 8-2 in their last 10 games, a stretch in which NY has gone from sixth place in the National League wild card race to third and cut the St. Louis Cardinals’ lead from 5 1/2 games to 2 1/2.
Reyes went 4-for-5 with two runs scored Tuesday while Cabrera had two hits, including a two-run homer.
And it was a huge home run for the Mets.it was, because the win put them in a tie with the Marlins for the second NL wild card and 2-½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.
How hard was it to skip deGrom given the Mets are trying to claw back into the postseason conversation and the Marlins entered the series ahead of them in the standings?
With a new-look lineup, the Marlins started fast and then did little the rest of the way. RHP Jacob deGrom, who had his scheduled start Monday skipped, will take Matz’s spot. Lugo (2-2) earned the win after allowing two runs – both in the first inning – on five hits and one walk while striking out four over six innings. Smoker, who pitched for the third straight day and fourth in the past five, was all fired up coming off the mound.
BOSTON – Rick Porcello became the majors’ first 18-game victor and the first Red Sox pitcher in 70 years to open a season 13-0 in Fenway Park, going seven solid innings in Boston’s win over Tampa Bay.
The next pitch, Xavier Scruggs lined a slider to left. With 3,011 career hits, he passed Wade Boggs for No. 27 on baseball’s all-time list.
Reyes and Cabrera got on base seven times in 10 combined plate appearances from the top two spots in the lineup.
With the count 0-2 on Cespedes, Ramos threw a high fastball that glanced off the mitt of catcher J.T. Realmuto and went to the screen.
Reyes rolled around in discomfort for several seconds, dyed-orange hair visible to all after his helmet popped off.
The team had hoped Cabrera or Walker – maybe even both – would be able to play.
NY could ill afford to lose him – with second baseman Neil Walker and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera ailing, the Mets did not have a healthy infielder on the bench.
NY added a fresh arm to the bullpen Tuesday, recalling right-hander Logan Verrett from Triple-A Las Vegas. Left-hander Justin Nicolino, who started Sunday and threw 101 pitches in a 3-1 loss to San Diego, was optioned to the Zephyrs. The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year is expected to return to the rotation Friday night in the series opener against Washington, with Noah Syndergaard to follow on Saturday, Collins said.
The Mets hit three homers Monday as they beat the Marlins, 7-4, for their second straight win and their eighth victory in the last 10 games overall dating back to August 20. SS Asdrubal Cabrera (left knee) struck out as a pinch-hitter to end the seventh.
“My arm was feeling great, which was why this is a big disappointment, because I was really feeling really good and a few days after throwing that last game I threw, something just started barking at me and it hasn’t really subsided since”, he said.
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Granderson, batting for Lugo, connected for his second career pinch-hit homer leading off the sixth, extending the Mets’ lead to 4-2 against Tom Koehler (9-10). Koehler grew up in nearby New Rochelle and is 2-6 with a 4.13 ERA in 19 games, 16 starts, against the Mets.
