NEW YORK -- After sweeping the Phillies in their last series, the Mets are learning the Marlins aren't a cakewalk.
On Saturday, Miami and New York found themselves in a slugfest at Citi Field. When it was over, it was the Marlins who came out on top, 11-8, to take the 2-1 lead in the four-game series.
After the Marlins scored five runs in the first inning and three more in the third, the game was tied at 8 going to the top of the seventh inning. With runners on first and third, one out and Mets reliever Tyler Rogers on the mound, Connor Norby gave Miami the lead by hitting a sacrifice fly, scoring Agustín Ramírez.
“With Rogers, he is one of the toughest at-bats for anybody in the big leagues,” Norby said. “He is extremely tough. ... That 83 [mph] feels a lot harder than 83. … I was trying to get something in the air, trying to drive in a run and was able to get a good enough pitch to handle.”
It looked like New York was going to tie the score at 9 in the bottom of the frame against Calvin Faucher. Jeff McNeil led off with a triple, but with the infield in, Brett Baty grounded out to second baseman Xavier Edwards. Pinch-hitter Starling Marte followed and struck out. Cedric Mullins ended the threat by flying out to Jakob Marsee in left field, leaving McNeil stranded at third.
Norby added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth with a two-run double off closer Edwin Díaz. Before he was activated from the injured list on Friday, Norby was worried about his swing. After all, he missed almost two months of the season after breaking his left hamate bone.
During his rehab assignment, Norby tried to simplify the swing. Stay back, stay behind the baseball to allow his swing to work. Since his return to action, Norby is 3-for-7 with three RBIs, three runs scored and two walks.
“I’m just trying to slow the game down as much as I can like I was doing when I was rehabbing,” Norby said. “I want to continue what I was doing the last couple of weeks prior to me getting hurt. I thought my at-bats were really good and only improving.
“It’s part of the game. You are going to have bad weeks and months, but I know through the course of 162 games, I know where my bat plays. It was a matter of time, it felt like. I’m just simplifying the game. Just hit the ball hard. Use the entire field. Slow the game down. I think those are the keys.”
Reliever Ronny Henriquez pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Tyler Phillips earned his third save of the season after he pitched a scoreless ninth.
“It took a lot of contributions from a lot [of people] in our group,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “It was a wild game. We were able to get off to a hot start. The Mets are a good offensive team and they are swinging the bat well and they were able to put up some runs, get back in it.
“For us to hold serve through the middle part of the game and what we were able to do late in the game offensively to cash in a couple of runs was huge.”
The Marlins have been underdogs all year. Prognosticators predicted before the season that they would lose 100 games or more. That’s not going to happen, as they are 64-72 and in third place in the NL East. They still have an outside chance of finishing the season with a .500 record. According to Norby, the winning attitude started in Spring Training and the future appears to be bright.
“We have a lot of guys that aren’t household names -- yet,” Norby said. “We have a lot of guys that care about each other. We worked our tails off ever since day one in Spring Training. It was the hardest Spring Training I've ever been a part of, as far as the day to day. You were taking ground balls three times a day. We were hitting multiple times a day, let alone on top of the games.
“It’s a testament to our coaching staff. It’s a testament to the players. We know who we are and we knew we were going to get a lot better than what people thought. We have talent. … The front office knows what it is doing. The coaching staff knows what it is doing. They trust us. We are really good players and we love playing with each other. We love fighting every night. We don’t feel we are ever out of the game.”