Marlins 8, Mets 4
MIAMI -- Giancarlo Stanton hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Miami Marlins an 8-4 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday.
The home run by Stanton to deep left-center came on the first pitch from Manny Acosta (1-3) with two outs in the ninth inning. It was his seventh homer of the season.
The Marlins trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth after Justin Turner hit a two-run double off Heath Bell (2-3) in the top of the inning.
With the score tied at 2 in the top of the ninth, Daniel Murphy doubled down the left-field line off Bell, who then walked two of the next three batters. With two outs, Justin Turner lined a 3-2 pitch lined for a double to right, scoring a pair giving the Mets a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth with closer Frank Francisco on the mound, Emilio Bonifacio hit his second triple of the game. After John Buck walked, Greg Dobbs drove in Bonifacio with a base hit cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Following the hit by Dobbs, Mets manager Terry Collins came to the mound to replace Francisco, who then walked to home plate and confronted umpire Todd Tichenor and had to be restrained by Collins.
Acosta replaced Francisco and Jose Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to center for a 4-4 tie. With two outs, Acosta walked Hanley Ramirez and hit Austin Kearns with a pitch to load the bases for Stanton.
Mets starter Jonathon Niese pitched six scoreless innings and allowed five hits -- all singles -- and three walks while striking out four. He lowered his ERA from 4.01 to 3.40.
Niese came into Sunday's game with a 1-4 record and 5.13 ERA in seven starts against the Marlins.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis and David Wright opened the fourth with back-to-back singles. After both runners moved up on a passed ball by John Buck, Lucas Duda grounded out to score Nieuwenhuis and Murphy singled home Wright for a 2-0 lead.
Miami had a baserunner in each of the first six innings, but didn't score until the sixth when Bonifacio tripled off Ramon Ramirez to right-center field and Buck followed with a home run to center to tie the game at 2-2.
In a 115-pitch effort, Miami's Carlos Zambrano allowed two runs -- one earned -- and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
Bonifacio went 3-for-4 to record his first three-hit game since April 9 at Philadelphia.
NOTES: Zambrano has posted his two highest strikeout totals of the season in his last two starts. He struck out a season-high nine on May 7 at Houston. ... Reyes reached base eight times (six hits and two walks) in 14 plate appearances in the series. ... Murphy extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the fourth. He is hitting .448 (17 for 38) during the streak.
