MLB GAME RECAP

Mets maintain wild-card lead with win over Marlins

The Sports Xchange

September 28, 2016 at 10:25 pm.

Sep 28, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets first base coach Tom Goodwin (left) and third baseman Jose Reyes (center) and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (right) celebrate their 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins  the at Marlins Park. Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Sep 28, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets first base coach Tom Goodwin (left) and third baseman Jose Reyes (center) and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera (right) celebrate their 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins the at Marlins Park. Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI — James Loney and Jay Bruce each hit two-run homers to lead the New York Mets to a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.

Bruce, who also hit a two-run shot against Miami on Tuesday, leads the Mets with 32 homers, although 25 of them were hit before the Cincinnati Reds traded him to New York on July 31.

Loney was in the lineup only after the Mets scratched first baseman Lucas Duda due to an apparent injury.

New York has hit 216 homers this season, and they ranked second in the NL in that category entering Wednesday. The Mets’ previous record for most homers in a season was 200 in 2006.

With the win, the Mets (85-74) maintained their slim lead over the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card race. Only two of those three teams will make the playoffs.

Miami (78-80) was eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday, the same day that a public memorial service was held for pitcher Jose Fernandez, who was killed in a boat crash Sunday morning that also claimed the lives of two of his friends.
Mets rookie Seth Lugo (5-2) earned the win. He allowed five hits, three walks and two runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 50th save, which leads the majors and adds to what was already a franchise record. He also broke the record for most saves by a native of the Dominican Republic, a mark he had shared with Luis Valverde and Francisco Cordero.

Miami’s Jose Urena (4-9) took the loss, allowing eight hits, two walks and five runs in five innings.

Miami scored first, getting a two-run homer from Martin Prado in the first. With one out, Marcell Ozuna drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Prado then ambushed Lugo, pulling a low-and-in fastball for his eighth homer of the season.

New York tied the score 2-2 in the second. T.J. Rivera led off with a double down the third base line, and Loney pulled his homer to right. It was Loney’s eighth homer of the season, and it capped a rally that took all of five pitches.

With two outs, no one on and the pitcher up, the Mets mounted a surprising rally that produced the go-ahead run.

Lugo hit the first pitch he saw for an opposite-field double down the first-base line. It was the first double of Lugo’s brief major league career, and it paid off when the next batter, Jose Reyes, doubled to right for a 3-2 advantage.

Bruce’s homer in the fifth gave New York a 5-2 lead. After Curtis Granderson lined a single just off the glove of shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, Bruce pulled his shot to right.

NOTES: Mets INF Wilmer Flores (right wrist) may not play again this week but is hoping to return for the postseason, assuming his team qualifies. … Marlins rookie OF Yefri Perez had four steals as a pinch runner this season before getting his first major league hit on Tuesday. … Mets outfield prospect and former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, a lefty swinger, hit a homer on the first pitch he saw Wednesday in an instructional league game. Tebow, playing his first formal game since his junior year of high school, hit the homer off a left-handed pitcher. … The Mets wrap up their regular season with three games at the Philadelphia Phillies. … The Marlins conclude their regular season with three games at the Washington Nationals.