Mets’ offense erupts in rout of Marlins to match season-high win streak
MIAMI — Crushing an underwhelming opponent counts for something too.
In the Mets’ case, it would have been easy to lose focus and take a South Beach vacation after sweeping the Yankees in the intense Subway Series spotlight. Instead, they handled business over three days against a team they were supposed to beat.
On Sunday, the bats started early and kept going in a 9-3 victory over the Marlins at loanDepot park that allowed the Mets to match their longest winning streak of the season at six games.
“This group stays in reality real well,” manager Buck Showalter said. “They don’t seem to get caught up in some of the things that are out there, and rightfully so. But when you are playing well you are going to have that type of focus on you a little bit.”
An even bigger pushover awaits in Washington, where the Mets will face the last-place Nationals over the next three days. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are scheduled to pitch for the Mets in the series, and the Nationals could very well unload Juan Soto and Josh Bell, among others, ahead of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline.
It’s another classic trap series that can’t be overlooked by the Mets, who play the Braves five times in four days beginning Thursday at Citi Field. That series could have first-place implications in the NL East, where the Mets hold a three-game lead on Atlanta.
“We are just really even-keeled, which is a good thing,” Mark Canha said. “The guys that are the leaders in this clubhouse are very even-keeled guys and that is important.”
The Marlins never had a chance on this day. By the time the third inning was complete the Mets had already amassed 12 hits and raced to a 6-0 lead, knocking out starting pitcher Pablo Lopez in the process.
It was a nice change of pace for the Mets, who had only two runs entering the eighth inning on Saturday before adding two insurance runs. A night earlier they fell into a three-run hole in the first inning against stud right-hander Sandy Alcantara, but managed to rally for the win.
Sticking to their methodical approach, the Mets didn’t even need a home run in building their early lead. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso doubled in succession in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Daniel Vogelbach and Jeff McNeil delivered singles, the latter of which brought in the Mets’ second run. Canha brought in another with an RBI single.
The Mets gave Lopez a break in the second — Alonso hit into a double play to kill a rally — but were back at it in the third. Tyler Naquin delivered an RBI triple for his first hit in a Mets uniform before Canha’s ensuing single extended the lead to 5-0. Brandon Nimmo delivered a two-out RBI single that knocked out Lopez and gave Walker a six-run cushion.
“We’re just doing it on both sides of the ball,” Walker said. “The offense is scoring runs, we’re getting to a lot of good pitching and we’re scoring runs early. As a starting pitcher when you put up runs in the first inning it makes our job easier, to go out there and attack. … Our confidence is really high right now.”
Walker pitched 5 ²/₃ innings and allowed three earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander had shut out the Marlins over seven innings in his previous start against them, on July 10.
The Mets finished with a season-high 19 hits. Lindor, McNeil and Canha led the charge with three apiece.
“We still have got two months to play here,” Canha said. “Keep doing what we’re doing. We’re playing good baseball.”
