MIAMI — Maybe the New York Mets don’t need torpedo bats after all.
After an offensive-starved weekend in Houston, the Mets’ bats came alive in Miami on Monday night in a 10-4 win over the Marlins. With the LoanDepot Park roof closed and the two teams shielded from the hot, sticky weather, the ball was flying, with the Mets belting four homers and the Marlins hitting two.
Pete Alonso hit a grand slam, Luis Torrens and Brandon Nimmo each hit two-run bombs and Starling Marte hit a solo shot, with much of the action coming for the Mets in a big fifth inning. Facing veteran right-hander Cal Quantrill, Marte tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third when he took Quantrill deep to left field. But then they exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth, batting around and then some.
The Mets might have struggled with their timing at the plate against Houston two days ago, but a new day and a new city had them locked into every at-bat. They beat up on Quantrill (0-1), with Luisangel Acuña leading off by legging out a single and then scoring from first base on a deep double by Jose Siri to put the Mets up 2-1.
Marte, leading off in place of Francisco Lindor, who joined the team late in the game after being home in Orlando for the birth of his third child, was plunked by Quantrill to put two on with none out. Juan Soto walked to load the bases, and Pete Alonso provided the protection Soto so deeply desired when he agreed to come to Queens, hitting a grand slam.
With the count full, Quantrill threw Alonso a sinker away. The Polar Bear drove it into the right-center field seats to give the Mets a 6-1 advantage.
The Marlins (3-1) then went to the bullpen for right-hander George Soriano, who finally got the first out of the inning, but he would face three more batters before finally getting the second.
Mark Vientos walked and Luis Torrens hit one straight away to center field. Derek Hill, a journeyman outfielder who has played 166 Major League games for five organizations, leapt at the wall to make and initially made the catch before losing the ball over the top of the wall. Vientos and Torrens trotted slowly, unsure of whether or not he came up with the ball until he opened his empty glove.
Nimmo made it 10-1 with a homer to nearly the same spot, taking Soriano back 412 feet in the sixth.
David Peterson (1-0) pitched well enough that he was able to get around two solo home runs, one in the bottom of the first inning and one in the bottom of the sixth when the Mets already had a nine-run lead. Making his first start of the season, the left-hander pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits, walking three and striking out nine.
Huascar Brazobán, who was traded by the Marlins to the Mets at the deadline last summer, pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Peterson, bringing his total scoreless streak to 4 1/3. Left-hander Danny Young let in two runs in the ninth.
The Mets (2-2) cautioned against any sort of overreaction after producing only five runs in three games against the Astros over the weekend. The real test will come Tuesday when the Marlins pitch former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara against Mets ace Kodai Senga, but it appears as though the offense has thawed.
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