Mets smack three home runs, knock around Marlins for 10-4 win

After struggling to hit at Citi Field, the Mets knocked around the Marlins for 14 hits, including three home runs, in a 10-4 win over Miami on Wednesday night.

New York improved to 29-37 (and 14-23 as the home team) on the season. Miami fell to 23-44.

Here are the takeaways…

- Francisco Lindor got things started in the bottom of the first smacking a double that carried over the head of centerfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Harrison Bader, batting in the second hole for the first time all year, got a 1-2 sinker from left-hander Braxton Garrett over the plate and clobbered it 431 feet to left field (107.5 mph off the bat) for a two-run home run.

- Francisco Alvarez got his first hit since coming off the IL shooting an RBI single the other way driving in Tyrone Taylor from second base after he singled and moved to second when Mark Vientos reached on an error.

Jeff McNeil, batting ninth for the first time in his career, got a chance with second and third and nobody out after a wild pitch. Against a drawn-in infield, McNeil hit a bouncer to second that snuck under Otto Lopez’s glove to plate another run. It was Miami’s 48th error on the season, the most in the NL.

With two down, J.D. Martinez got a 3-2 slider up in the zone for a base hit to center to plate the third and final run of the inning.

- Starling Marte, who was 14-for-30 over his last eight games with a 1.149 OPS, stayed hot launching a 434-foot home run in the fifth. The outfielder got a 3-2 changeup down in the zone and tattooed it 106.4 mph for a no-doubter to the second deck in left.

- With one down in the seventh, Pete Alonso singled, Marte walked, and Taylor grabbed yet another hit setting up Vientos for an RBI bloop to right. Alvarez rocketed one the other way (107.3 mph) but a dandy of a stop by Lopez at second held it to an RBI groundout as the catcher hustled down the line to stop the double-play and make it an 8-4 game.

- For good measure, Lindor started the eighth by cranking a 414-foot solo shot to center. It was his 300th RBI as a Met. He finished the game 2-for-5.

After Bader grabbed a broken-bat single, Marte drove him home with his second hit of the game with a two-out liner to center. That hit gave Marte seven multihit games in his last night.

- Taylor, who entered the game mired in a 3-for-27 slump over his last 14 games and getting a start to give Brandon Nimmo a day off against a lefty, broke out of it with a 4-for-5 night including a double off the wall in right-center. And they weren’t cheap hits as he hit the ball hard all night: 109 mph, 92.6 mph, 99.9 and 97.3 mph off the bat.

- Before the game, Carlos Mendoza said he moved Bader up in the order because of the way the centerfielder has recently been ”working his at-bats, taking pitches” and “using the whole field.”

“I just think that the way he’s controlling the strike zone, slowing the game down and then putting good swings on pitches that he’s getting to hit,” the skipper said. “It was a decision today against a lefty that I felt good with.”

Bader had started games batting in the 7, 8 and 9 spots in Mendoza's lineup this year and the change worked out as he finished the night 2-for-5.

- David Peterson needed just nine pitches for a 1-2-3 first inning against a Marlins team that swings more often and chases more often than any other team in the big leagues.

But Peterson couldn’t get the shutdown inning he desired in the second. The lefty allowed back-to-back singles before getting a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play to put a runner on third with two down. But Dane Myers took a fastball over the plate down the first base line for an RBI double before he came around to score on Emmanuel Rivera's base hit up the middle to tie the game. Peterson was seen slamming his glove on the Mets’ bench after the top of the second.

Peterson worked around a two-out walk in the third and a one-out single in the fourth for a pair of scoreless frames. But the fifth was unkind, as Peterson allowed back-to-back one-out doubles and then a two-out single to Chisholm to plate another run.

After the 30-pitch frame, Peterson’s day was over, his final line: 5.0 innings, eight hits, four runs, two walks, one strikeout on 84 pitches (59 strikes)

Peterson didn't have his best stuff, he got just two whiffs on 47 swings after getting 18 whiffs on 84 swings his first two starts and the Marlins made contact on 97 percent of pitches they swung at in the zone.

- Dedniel Nunez worked an easy 1-2-3 sixth with two strikeouts, getting the free-swinging Marlins two whiffs on five sliders out of the zone in the process. In the seventh, Nunez started firing off fastballs and struck out two more, adding five more whiffs. And the 28-year-old stayed on to get Jake Burger swinging in the eighth.

Unfortunately, after working 2.1 innings that likely means Nunez may be heading down to Triple-A as the bullpen faces a numbers crunch with closer Edwin Diaz coming off the IL on Thursday.

- Jake Diekman and Reed Garrett combined to close the door while allowing one hit, with the latter striking out two to close the door.

- With the Mets facing a lefty starting pitcher for the sixth time in seven games, McNeil got the start for the first time against a lefty after Jose Iglesias got the call at second in the first five games against a southpaw. McNeil went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Highlights

MVP of the Game: Dedniel Nunez

Nunez got seven outs without allowing a base runner and took the life out of Marlins hitters in the process. He finished with 12 whiffs and three called strikes on 29 pitches with five strikeouts. His slider was particularly devastating, as on 15 offerings he he got eight whiffs and three fouls on the 11 swings with a called strike and two balls.

What's next

These two teams conclude the series Thursday night with a 7:10 p.m. first pitch in Queens.

Right-hander Luis Severino (3.25 ERA with 58 strikeouts over 72 innings) gets the call for his 13th start of the season. He will face off against Miami righty Roddery Munoz (5.95 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 19.2 innings) making his fifth-career big-league start in his debut season.