Mets cash in on key replay, Lindor's big day to take down Marlins, Sandy Alcantara
MIAMI — When facing the Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, it is wise to squeeze the potential out of every opportunity.
With one strange play and a little bit of baseball knowledge from Buck Showalter on Friday night, the Mets got the upper hand on the early contender for the National League's Cy Young.
With two runners on base and no outs, Starling Marte knocked a chopper to Marlins second baseman Willians Astudillo. He tagged Brandon Nimmo, who tucked to get out of the way, with an empty glove hand and the double play was negated by a challenge from Showalter.
The play was frozen after the wrong call was made on Nimmo and all of the Mets' runners were safe.
Five pitches later, Francisco Lindor laced a three-run double into right-center field to break a two-run tie and send the Mets to a 5-3 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
"It changed the momentum to our side, for sure. Nimmo running the bases did an outstanding job," Lindor said. "And Marte, that at-bat doesn’t happen without them. The professionalism they have to run hard and think the stuff ahead, it’s huge.
"It made my job easier for sure, going up to hit with the bases loaded, no outs and having Pete behind me, (rather) than going up to hit with a guy on third base and two outs."
The win helped the Mets avoid a three-game losing streak for the first time this season.
Alcantara entered the night with a 7-2 record and 1.72 ERA across 14 starts.
The Mets broke through for four earned runs off the Marlins starter, which was he has given up since his fifth start of the season on May 1 against the Mariners.
Lindor opened the game with a solo home run to straightaway center field in the first inning.
"You have a pitcher as good as Alcantara, it takes him away little bit of invincibility to know he’s going to get right back on the horse," Buck Showalter said. "... I think our guys knew to face one of the best to compete and try and see if we can meet the challenge, but it all revolves around how good your starting pitcher is."
Taijuan Walker was able to do enough to grab his sixth win, scattering eight hits across six innings.
"People always ask me, ‘What’s Buck like?’ He just knows everything," Walker said. "That play that happened with Nimmo and Marte, he’s on top of his game with that. That helped out a lot."
After Lindor's home run, Alcantara proceeded to send down the next 11 Mets batters in order before Mark Canha gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with his sixth home run of the season in the top of the fifth.
The Mets were the first team to homer off Alcantara in eight starts.
Meanwhile, the Marlins floundered in their major chance to get even. Drew Smith came on in the seventh inning and loaded the bases with a trio of walks despite picking up a pair of strikeouts. Adam Ottavino got out of the jam with a flyball from Jesus Aguilar.
Still quality
In his previous start against the Marlins on June 24, Walker was nearly unhittable. He allowed only two hits and a walk while striking out nine.
This time, he was done in by some soft contact but was able to minimize the damage.
He gave up four of his eight hits in the first inning, including an RBI single from Garrett Cooper, but was able to get out of the jam with a pickoff and inning-ending double play.
"The key to the game, I think again, was Taijuan. He was outstanding," Showalter said. "The first five or six hits they had, only one of them was hit hard, and he kept working his way through it. I know he was frustrated, but you knew there wasn’t going to be much with their pitcher out there."
Walker was able to get a pair of groundball outs with runners on in the second and limited the Marlins to just one run after allowing back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the fifth that tied the game at 2-2.
Walker then registered five straight outs, including three consecutive strikeouts across the fifth and a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He was pulled after giving up a leadoff single to Jacob Stallings, who would later score on a bases-loaded walk.
"I feel I just kind of got stronger as the game went on," Walker said. "I feel like my velocity ticked up a little bit more. Just a little bit more intensity. I really wanted to get that shutdown inning after we scored to try and go a little deeper in the game."
Closing strong
The first part of the month of June was one to forget for Lindor.
He fractured the middle finger on his right finger while shutting his hotel door in Los Angeles. After missing one game, he went 6-for-38 (.158) with three runs and two RBI on the West Coast trip.
Since a visit from his mother to Citi Field on May 17, the Mets shortstop has collected eight hits in 28 at-bats (.286) with three home runs, 11 RBI and four runs.
"One thing I learned was be careful with double doors," Lindor said with a laugh. "The second thing I learned was it’s just a finger. People out there have bigger problems in life than just a finger. As long as I can stay on the field, I’ll do whatever it takes to win. You’ve got to grind."
Lindor's four RBI off Alcantara on Friday gave him 56 on the season — fourth in Major League Baseball.
"After that home run, he came and threw me three fastballs inside 99, 100," Lindor said. "He was still making pitches. He’s one of the top pitchers in the league, for sure. I had a good plan and I executed."
Andrew Tredinnick is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.
Email: atredinnick@gannett.com Twitter: @andrew_tred
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets take advantage of Marlins mistakes, opportunities in Friday win
