Mets Survive Two Collapses in One Night, Beat Marlins 15-14

MIAMI — The Mets did not simply win a wild game Wednesday night. They survived two different versions of losing it.

New York beat the Miami Marlins 15-14 at loanDepot park, completing a three-game sweep after turning an 8-0 lead into a tie, then nearly surrendering a second six-run advantage before recording the final out.

The final score was extraordinary. The path to it was even more so.

The Mets scored six times in the second inning and added two more in the third, with Christopher Morel’s two-run homer pushing the lead to 8-0. But Miami answered with three runs in the fourth and five in the sixth, erasing the entire cushion and turning what looked like a comfortable night into a reset.

New York responded with another six-run inning in the seventh. A.J. Ewing’s sacrifice fly put the Mets ahead, Luis Torrens and Morel followed with run-scoring singles, and Francisco Lindor’s three-run homer restored a 14-8 lead. After a Marlins home run, the Mets added another run in the eighth to move ahead 15-9.

That still was not enough to make the ninth inning routine.

Miami scored three times in the final inning, cutting the deficit to one. Griffin Conine doubled home a run, Otto Lopez tripled him in and Jakob Marsee’s single brought Lopez home. With the tying run on base, Tobias Myers entered and finally stopped the rally, striking out Owen Caissie and retiring Graham Pauley on a popout.

The sequence made the game historically unusual. According to information cited by the Associated Press from the Elias Sports Bureau, the Mets became only the second team in the last 90 years to lead by at least eight runs, then tie or fall behind, and later take a lead of at least six runs again. In other words, New York did not merely blow a lead and recover; it created a second large lead after the first one had disappeared.

The box score reflected the disorder. Miami collected 20 hits to New York’s 15, yet lost. The Mets used six relievers, while the Marlins used seven. Daniel Duarte earned the win after 1⅔ innings, and Myers recorded his second save. The game lasted 3 hours, 38 minutes.

Morel was central to the turnaround. He entered after Brett Baty left in the second inning with left knee pain, then went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and came within a triple of the cycle. Morel’s homer was his first of the season and came against his former team; Miami released him on June 26.

Torrens also supplied three hits and a team-high four RBIs. The bottom portion of New York’s lineup produced most of the damage, combining for 10 hits and 10 RBIs.

That offensive production is the clearest reason for optimism. The Mets have now won four straight and improved to 68-78, with a 21-12 record since the trade deadline, according to Field Level Media. But the manner of this win also underlined the club’s fragility: a lead that once reached eight runs vanished, and a later 15-9 advantage nearly disappeared in the final three outs.

The Mets will take the streak into a series at the Yankees beginning Friday, September 11. Miami will begin a series against the Dodgers the same day.

For New York, Wednesday’s victory was both a celebration and a warning. The offense proved it could keep answering back. The pitching staff proved it might need every one of those answers.