MIAMI – Jake Burger homered and doubled to help the Miami Marlins beat the New York Mets 6-4 on Friday night.
Nick Fortes had two hits and an RBI, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled twice and stole a base for Miami. The Marlins, who began Friday with an NL-worst 33-63 record, overcame Jeff McNeil’s two-homer game for New York.
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“I think the compete factor showed up today,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “We didn’t want to just get through the season. We wanted to compete out there.”
Down 5-4, New York threatened with one out against Miami reliever Calvin Faucher in the eighth when José Iglesias walked and McNeil reached on an infield single. A wild pitch from Faucher advanced both runners before Iglesias was tagged out at home while attempting to score on Harrison Bader’s grounder to shortstop Xavier Edwards.
Tanner Scott relieved Faucher and ended New York’s threat by retiring Francisco Lindor on a pop-out to second. Scott, the Marlins’ NL All-Star representative, also worked a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
“Tanner — I’ve said it before — he’s one of the top relievers in the big leagues,” Schumaker said. “I don’t want him out there for five outs. I thought about it but it’s not fair to him.”
Fortes hit an RBI single off reliever Dedniel Nuñez in the eighth to pad the Marlins’ lead.
New York (49-47) is 25-12 since a season-low 11 games under .500 on June 2.
Miami reliever Anthony Bender (4-2) got the final out in the fifth for the victory.
The Mets narrowed a 4-0 deficit on McNeil’s solo homer and J.D Martinez’s sacrifice fly against Edward Cabrera in the fifth.
Cabrera was lifted after issuing his fifth walk with two out in the fifth. The right-hander gave up two runs and five hits.
Burger’s blast to lead off the fifth increased Miami’s lead before McNeil connected again with a two-run shot against reliever Andrew Nardi in the sixth.
It was McNeil’s second career multi-homer game and first game with multiple hits since June 28.
“I feel like I’ve been seeing the ball well for the couple of weeks, hitting some balls are that aren’t getting through,” McNeil said. “So it’s nice to have a little bit of success tonight.”
Burger followed up a 5-for-9 stretch in the final two games before the All-Star break with his multi-hit game against New York.
“The tricky part is you get four days off and you try to maintain that kind of momentum going,” Burger said. “I felt I did a good job over the break, getting to hit a couple of days.
Xavier Edwards’ run-scoring single and Emmanuel Rivera’s sacrifice fly against Mets starter Sean Manaea (6-4) in the second put Miami ahead 2-0.
The Marlins increased their advantage in the third, when Burger hit an RBI double and scored on Josh Bell’s single to centerfield.
Manaea allowed five runs and eight hits over five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: RHP Kodai Senga (shoulder) is scheduled to throw approximately 85 pitches in a rehab outing with Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday. Senga’s second appearance with the minor league club is considered the last step before he joins the Mets next week for his season debut. ... LHP José Quintana was scratched from his scheduled start in the second game of the series Saturday because of a fever.
Marlins: Placed OF Dane Myers (left ankle fracture) on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to July 15, and activated INF Otto López from the injured list.
UP NEXT
RHP Luis Severino (6-3, 3.78) was set to start for the Mets on Saturday against RHP Roddery Muñoz (1-4, 5.47).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb