HEADLINE

Mets aim for series win over Marlins

Field Level Media

July 14, 2019 at 7:33 am.

The weekend began with first-year general manager Brodie Van Wagenen admitting this season is a disappointment and defending the trade that brought Robinson Cano to the New York Mets for two highly regarded prospects.

For one night, the Mets did not experience much disappointment thanks to an impressive swing by Cano, who hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 win.

On Sunday, the Mets can get their first road series win in more than three months and second overall when they conclude a three-game set with the Miami Marlins.

New York is 18-32 on the road this season and 11-31 in its last 42 road games since winning seven of its first eight road contests. The Mets are in a position to get their first road series win since sweeping Miami April 1-3 as part of their 9-4 start to the season.

The Mets are 32-47 overall since then, however, and own the second-worst record in the National League after Van Wagenen declared “come get us” to the rest of the NL East in January shortly after obtaining Cano from the Mariners along with Edwin Diaz for Justin Dunn and Jarred Kelenic, who participated in last week’s Future’s Game.

Cano enters Sunday with five homers after hitting his first since June 17. He also drove in two runs for the first time since April 15 and only the third time overall.

“I don’t know if you noticed I’ve been hit twice, three times on my hand,” Cano said. “That’s not an excuse. I’m the kind of guy even if it bothers me, I would never say anything. I would like to be able to go out and contribute any way or anyhow.”

After one of his biggest hits of a disappointing season, Cano is batting .240 with five homers and 20 RBIs.

“You don’t put up a Hall of Fame career without having pride in yourself and wanting to prove to people that you’re one of the best,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “There’s no doubt. He has that.”

The Mets also got a strong outing from Noah Syndergaard and will hope Jacob deGrom (4-7, 3.27) can do the same. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner has produced a 2.68 ERA in his last seven starts with 61 strikeouts and seven walks but the Mets are 1-6 in those games.

He last pitched July 5 at home against Philadelphia when he allowed two runs, three hits and struck out 10 in seven innings of a no-decision in a 7-2 loss.

The right-hander is 6-7 with a 3.55 ERA in 19 career starts against Miami, which tagged him for seven runs on nine hits May 17.

The Marlins swept the Mets at home May 17-19 and won the series opener 8-4 Friday. They scored both runs in the fourth inning Saturday, struck out 12 times and lost for the 10th time in their last 14 games.

Sandy Alcantara (4-8, 3.82) gets the nod for Miami in his first start since appearing in the All-Star Game. Alcantara last started July 3 in Washington, when he allowed two runs on four hits in 5 2/3 innings of a 3-1 loss while opposing Stephen Strasburg.

“I think I had a pretty good game,” Alcantara told reporters after allowing a two-run homer to Brian Dozier. “I just missed a spot with my pitch and they hit a homer.”

Alcantara is 2-2 with a 2.14 ERA in five career starts against the Mets. On May 19, he pitched a two-hitter against New York in a game that lasted one hour, 59 minutes.

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