Carlos Carrasco struggles again, Marlins skid past Mets 6-4
AP - Carlos Carrasco had another short start Tuesday night, lasting just three innings as the New York Mets fell into a first-place tie in the NL East with a 6-4 loss to the Miami Marlins.
The Marlins closed out the Mets not long after the Atlanta Braves completed an 8-2 victory over the Washington Nationals.
The Mets and Braves are both 97-58 with seven games left.
The teams are scheduled to play a three-game series this weekend in Atlanta, though the path of Hurricane Ian could force a postponement or relocation.
The Marlins scored twice against Carrasco (15-7) in the first, when Bryan De La Cruz delivered a sacrifice fly and Brian Anderson raced home on a wild pitch.
They added two more in the third, when JJ Bleday hit a 339-foot homer just over the right-field wall.
Carrasco allowed six hits and walked one with two strikeouts while throwing four or fewer innings for the fourth time in his last six starts, a stretch in which he has a 4.94 ERA.
The 35-year-old right-hander was sidelined from Aug. 16 through Sept. 3 with a strained left oblique.
Pete Alonso's three-run homer in the fourth — which made him the first Mets player with two 40-homer seasons — cut it to 4-3.
But the Marlins answered in the fifth, when Jacob Stallings hit a two-run single off Trevor Williams.
The Mets had a baserunner in each of the next four innings but scored only in the eighth when Jeff McNeil singled with two outs and came around on three balks by Richard Bleier as the left-hander pitched to Alonso.
Dylan Floro struck out all three batters in the ninth to earn his eighth save and preserve the win for starter Pablo Lopez (10-10), who allowed five hits and struck out five over six innings.
Lopez, who entered with an 11.34 ERA in four starts this year against the Mets, retired the first nine batters he faced before Brandon Nimmo singled.
MUTUAL RESPECT
Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who announced Sunday he would not return to the team for the 2023 season, exchanged lineup cards and a handshake at home plate before the game with Mets manager Buck Showalter, who managed Mattingly when the latter was the Yankees' captain from 1992-95.
"I learned a lot from Buck," Mattingly said. "His organization (skills) and the guys he picks and how he builds culture. He's sharp."
Mattingly said Sunday he's looking forward to spending time with his family in Indiana but that he hoped to return to baseball at some point — a sentiment Showalter shared as well Tuesday afternoon.
"The game's better with him in it and hope he continues," Showalter said.
"He's as good a human being as he is a player and coach and manager. And that's saying a lot."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Marlins: DH Garrett Cooper broke his left hand when he was hit by Williams' pitch in the fifth.
Cooper bounded toward the visitors' dugout and was examined briefly by a trainer before heading into the clubhouse.
Charles LeBlanc pinch ran for him.
INF Joey Wendle (left hamstring) is expected to return to the active roster when Miami begins a three-game series against Milwaukee on Friday night.
OF Avisail Garcia (left hamstring) went 1 for 4 with an RBI in his second rehab game for Triple-A Jacksonville.
Mattingly said he hoped Garcia could also return Friday.
Mets: OF Terrance Gore had a cracked molar repaired.
"He can still run," Showalter said dryly of the pinch-runner extraordinaire, who has 43 stolen bases and just 80 plate appearances in his eight-year career.
UP NEXT
Marlins: LHP Jesus Luzardo (3-7, 3.57 ERA) has allowed two runs or fewer in seven of his 10 starts since returning from an almost three-month stint on the IL due to a forearm injury.
Mets: RHP Taijuan Walker (12-5, 3.53) has a 5.11 ERA in 11 second-half starts after posting a 2.55 ERA in 16 starts prior to the All-Star break.