Mets rally in ninth, but Marlins walk off with 6-5 win in 11

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Updated: September 5, 2015

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Christian Yelich goes to score the game-winning run as Travis d’Arnaud walks away.

MIAMI – Much of the talk about the Mets throughout Friday centered on Matt Harvey and a percolating innings-limit flap between his agent and the team. By the end of the day, though, there was plenty more to digest, too.

Yoenis Cespedes started a comeback against the Marlins with a triple in the sixth inning and then propelled the Mets into the lead with a seventh-inning home run. Then the setup portion of the bullpen – this time, Sean Gilmartin and Addison Reed – failed again, giving back the lead in the seventh.

The Mets rallied again, tying the score in the ninth on an RBI single by Kelly Johnson with two out. But the Marlins finished off the topsy-turvy night by scoring a walk-off victory, 6-5, on Martin Prado’s RBI double in 11 innings in front of 24,763 at Marlins Park.

For the Mets, it was a tough loss on a tough day to one of the worst teams in baseball. It also cost them a game off their lead in the National League East because Washington won. The Mets hold first place by five games now.

Prado doubled down the first base line against Eric O’Flaherty, scoring Christian Yelich all the way from first. It was Prado’s fifth hit of the game.

The Mets had come back from a 3-0 deficit and a 5-4 deficit, but fell short. Immediately after Cespedes’ two-run shot in the seventh gave the Mets a 4-3 advantage, Gilmartin and Reed combined to allow the tying and go-ahead runs. Gilmartin gave up hits to both batters he faced to start the inning.

Then Reed, acquired last weekend to shore up the bullpen, allowed two inherited runners to score. The first one came in on a single by Prado and the go-ahead run waltzed home when Reed missed on a 3-2 pitch to Marcell Ozuna with the bases loaded.

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Travis d’Arnaud slides in safely to home as Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto attempts the tag during the sixth inning.

The Mets had a chance in the eighth inning when Ruben Tejada and pinch-hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit two-out singles and Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch. But those in the crowd chanting, “Let’s go, Mets!” were disappointed – David Wright grounded out to end the threat.

Granderson, who appeared to be hit in the right triceps area, was taken out of the game in a double switch before the Marlins batted in the bottom of the inning. There was no immediate word if the move was strategy or related to the hit by pitch.

Cespedes now has 11 home runs and 28 RBI in 31 games as a Met since coming over in that trade with the Tigers. Overall, he entered the night fourth in the majors in extra-base hits and has 29 homers.

Before the game, Terry Collins wouldn’t say much about the Harvey situation. But when someone noted the Mets were still trying to win a division while all that stuff was swirling, the manager quipped, “It just adds to the fun of coming to the park.

“It’s quite a day.”

Jacob deGrom started but wasn’t at his best, allowing three runs and nine hits in six innings. DeGrom struck out four and walked none, throwing 71 of his 98 pitches for strikes.

Really, though, only a poor fourth inning soured his final stat line. After starting with three consecutive scoreless innings, deGrom allowed four consecutive hits to start the fourth en route to a three-run Marlins’ outburst.

Joe Skipper/Getty Images

Yoenis Cespedes has a triple and a home run.

Prado, the ex-Yankee, doubled leading off and then scored on Justin Bour’s single up the middle that glanced off Ruben Tejada’s glove. The Mets were shading Bour that way, but the ball still got through the middle. Two more singles loaded the bases with one out, setting up a sac fly by J.T. Realmuto.

Miguel Rojas followed that up with an RBI single, but deGrom escaped further damage.

The Mets, meanwhile, had a lot of trouble with Marlins’ starter Tom Koehler, who they had clobbered in three earlier outings this season. Koehler took an 0-2 record and a 14.73 ERA into Friday’s start, but did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and wasn’t scored upon until the sixth.

Koehler was wild – he finished with five walks, one intentional – but mostly managed to pitch around them. Koehler, who went to Stony Brook University, only found trouble when Cespedes started the sixth with a long triple to center field.

Michael Conforto, moved to cleanup in part because Daniel Murphy and Michael Cuddyer are nursing injuries, got Cespedes in with an RBI grounder, cutting Miami’s lead to 3-1.

Travis d’Arnaud followed with a walk, moved to second on a grounder and scored on Kelly Johnson’s single to right. d’Arnaud made the play happen with a terrific slide, touching the plate with his hand to beat Ozuna’s throw from right field.

The Fish then intentionally walked Ruben Tejada to force Collins to make a decision on deGrom. Collins stuck with the starter who can swing a bat – deGrom had walked and singled in his first two trips to the plate – but it didn’t work. deGrom grounded out and went back out to pitch the sixth having thrown 81 pitches.

Baseball – NY Daily News