The Miami Marlins were already angry. The Mets probably made them even angrier with three big blasts, giving them no help in the NL Wild Card race.
Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos each hit two-run homers with Alonso, Lindor and Brandon Nimmo having stellar days at the plate. Alonso went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, two singles, two RBI and two runs scored. Lindor went 2-for-4 with four RBI and Nimmo went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
The game was originally supposed to be played Tuesday night, but rain from Tropical Storm Ophelia rendered the field “unplayable.” The Marlins (81-76), who came into New York as the first team out of the NL playoff picture, took offense to the Mets’ handling of the storm over the weekend saying they failed to cover the field with the tarp Saturday when the rain first began.
The Mets (72-85), however, insist that they took the appropriate precautions. In response to an article by MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic, manager Buck Showalter praised the work of Bill Deacon, the executive director of field operations, calling him one of the finest groundskeepers he had ever worked with.
Owner and CEO Steve Cohen tweeted an apology, saying, “Our sincere apologies to the Marlins and their fans for having to postpone last night’s game. We know how important this series is to the Marlins and every effort was made to get the field playable.”
The Marlins entered the day 0.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card standings. Their pitching staff has fallen apart with right-handers Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez injured. The Fish rolled with left-hander Braxton Garrett even after the postponement. Alonso put the Mets up 2-0 with a homer off Garrett (9-7) in the first inning, and Lindor made it 4-0 in the third. Garrett exited after the fourth.
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi went six innings plus two batters in the seventh. His ninth and final Major League start of the season was a two-run performance with three strikeouts, good enough to earn him his fourth win (4-0). Right-handers Trevor Gott, Drew Smith and Grant Hartwig held Miami scoreless while the Mets continued to pile on the offense, scoring runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
The New York lineup forced the Marlins to go deeper in their bullpen, which wasn’t ideal for a team planning on using its bullpen for nine innings of the nightcap. The Fish have a chance to even the series and further their postseason quest in the second game of the night.