The Marlins outslugged the Mets on Saturday evening at Citi Field.
David Peterson’s worst outing of the season was too much for the Mets’ offense to overcome, as Miami evened the three-game series with a 11-8 victory. Peterson surrendered eight runs on eight hits in two innings of work, jumping his season ERA to 3.61.
The southpaw gave up five runs in the top of the first as the Marlins slugged three doubles in the opening frames. Peterson pitched a scoreless second before being charged with three more runs in the third as he was replaced by Chris Devenski with nobody out in the inning.
However, the Mets did make a valiant attempt at climbing out of the hole that Peterson put them in as Juan Soto nearly came to the rescue. Soto smashed two homers on Saturday afternoon, a solo shot in the fourth to make it 8-6, and then a massive two-run shot in the sixth to tie the game at 8. The superstar’s clutch blast was hit 35th of the season.
But the celebration was short lived as Connor Norby’s sac fly in the top of the seventh scored Agustin Ramirez giving the Marlins a 9-8 lead.
The Amazin’s also got some offensive contributions from others not named Soto. Francisco Lindor cranked a solo shot in the bottom of the first, Mark Vientos slammed a three-run homer in the third and Brandon Nimmo recorded two doubles.
Carlos Mendoza’s bullpen churned in a productive day limiting the damage after Peterson’s implosion. Devenski, Brooks Raley, Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto combined for six innings of one-run ball. However, once Mendoza turned to Edwin Diaz, the Marlins delivered the exclamation point. Norby’s two-RBI double in the ninth put the Mets to bed giving Miami a commanding 11-8 lead.
However, the Amazin’s had one more fight left in them. Cedric Mullins came to the plate as the tying run in the ninth but he went down on strikes ending the game at 11-8.
The Mets will turn to Kodai Senga on Sunday at 1:40 p.m. to secure the series victory. Senga is coming off two rough outings allowing seven earned runs in his last nine innings. Sandy Alcantara will take the ball for Clayton McCullough’s squad.
