Rodney Gives Up 9th Inning Home Run, Fish Fall 5-3
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MIAMI (The Sports Xchange) -- Pitcher Logan Verrett knows exactly what leadoff hitter and recent acquisition Jose Reyes brings to the New York Mets.
"He's like a can of Red Bull balled up into a human being," said Verrett, who started for New York on Friday. "That's something we were lacking. He brings that energy to the field every day, and he had a huge game for us today."
Indeed, Reyes, playing his first game in Marlins Park since 2012, had a major role in three New York rallies as the Mets defeated the Miami Marlins 5-3.
James Loney added a two-run homer in the ninth, turning on a 95-mph fastball from reliever Fernando Rodney and pulling it to the upper deck in right field. He drove in Yoenis Cespedes, who was hit by a pitch with two outs.
Reyes, who left the Mets to sign a six-year, $106 million contract with the Marlins on Dec. 7, 2011, lasted just that 2012 season. Miami traded him in the offseason, and Reyes has moved from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Colorado Rockies and then back to the Mets this year on June 25.
His return to New York followed a 51-game suspension after a domestic violence incident with his wife.
On Friday, Reyes, 33, played like his younger self, before any controversy, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI.
"I've waited for this for a little while," Reyes said of his breakout performance since being reacquired by the Mets. "I've been working hard since November. I never stopped believing what I can do on the field when somebody gives me an opportunity. I'm going to continue to get better."
Reyes was pretty good against Miami. He singled and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. Reyes went to third on a single by Curtis Granderson and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cespedes, his second of the game.
"I wanted to throw up and in to Cespedes," Marlins reliever David Phelps said. "He hit it a little harder than I thought."
Thanks in large part to Reyes -- who had the first-ever Marlins hit in this stadium -- the Mets (51-44) won the opening game of an important weekend series.
Miami (52-44) is a half-game ahead of New York in the race for the second and final NL wild-card spot in the playoffs.
The Mets are 11-1 after a scheduled off day. They also improved on their 3.42 road ERA, which was the best in the majors entering Friday.
Miami's Ichiro Suzuki, four hits shy of 3,000, struck out against reliever Addison Reed in the eighth.
Jeurys Familia allowed one run in the ninth on a pinch-hit single by Martin Prado. But with runners on the corners and two outs, Familia got Adeiny Hechavarria on a grounder to shortstop to earn his 34th save of the season.
Familia has saved 50 straight games, which ranks fourth in baseball history.
Neither starting pitcher got a decision. Verrett allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings while Miami's Adam Conley allowed two runs in six innings.
Conley, who had a scoreless streak of 13 innings against the Mets, had that snapped when New York scored in the first.
Reyes doubled off the wall in left, stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cespedes.
Reyes was big again in the fourth. After Travis d'Arnaud and Juan Lagares singled, Reyes chopped a two-out RBI hit to left to give New York a 2-0 lead.
Miami tied the score in the sixth on a two-run homer to right-center by Christian Yelich. J.T. Realmuto started the rally with a double off the wall in left-center, and Yelich's blast -- his career-high 10th home of the season -- was measured at 417 feet.
"The power is coming a bit," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Yelich. "If that continues, he can turn into a scary guy in the standpoint of RBIs."
That Yelich homer was negated by Loney's blast in the ninth.
Mets manager Terry Collins, though, was mostly pleased that Reyes' performance reduced New York's reliance on home runs.
The Mets have 31 homers this month, the most in the majors. But Reyes gives them speed, too.
"(Reyes) produces runs," Collins said. "He gets on base, he gets in scoring position. I realize that even though he is fast, he is probably a step slower than he was five years ago.
"But he's still a great base-runner, and he creates havoc on the bases. People have to worry about him."
NOTES: After a 5-2 road trip, this was the first of a 10-game homestand for Miami. ... Marlins 1B Justin Bour (ankle) is set to take batting practice on Saturday and could return in about a week. ... Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (elbow surgery) was set to throw a bullpen session on Friday night at Marlins Park. ... Mets 1B Lucas Duda (back), who has been on the disabled list since May, is swinging a bat and taking grounders. ... The highlight of this series, in terms of pitching matchups, comes on Saturday night, when Miami's Jose Fernandez (11-4, 2.53 ERA) faces New York's Jacob deGrom (6-4, 2.38). Fernandez is 25-1 with a 1.43 ERA at Marlins Park. In six career starts against the Mets, home or away, Fernandez is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA.
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