Pete Alonso homers twice as Miami loses versus Mets

The Miami Marlins continue their struggles against the New York Mets as they lost 5-3 Saturday afternoon. In front of one of their largest home crowds of the season, the Fish never held a lead but did make things interesting.

The Marlins had left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers as their starting pitcher on Saturday. Rogers was looking to get back on track—he has struggled mightily this season after his All-Star season in 2021 and finished second in N.L. Rookie of Year voting.

Rogers had an outstanding start to his outing as he struck out the side in the top of the first but things got worse after that. Pete Alonso took him deep to right field for his 21st home run of the season and the Mets would score two additional runs. Rogers threw 4 ¹⁄₃ innings allowing seven hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts.

Relief pitcher Zach Pop came out of the bullpen in a difficult situation, inheriting the bases loaded from Rogers with one out and Pete Alonso coming to the plate. Pop got Alonso out on an infield fly to first and struck out Mark Canha to keep the score 3-2.

After Pop’s clutch outing, the Marlins turned to Dylan Floro. The veteran reliever had a very good sixth inning retiring the side on just ten pitches including seven strikes. Floro’s fastball velocity looked better as he was sitting 93-94 mph on Saturday.

After Floro’s one inning of work, Anthony Bass came out of the bullpen for the Fish. Bass continues to impress in the seventh inning as he allowed one hit but kept the game tied at 3-3. On the season, Bass has only allowed two earned runs while pitching in the seventh inning.

After Bass’ seventh inning, Miami handed the ball to relief pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis. The former Mariner had been impressing as of late but made a mistake pitch. Alonso got a fastball letter high and smoked a leadoff home run in the top of the eighth to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Alonso has 22 long balls, tops among all N.L. players.

After the home run, Yacabonis rebounded nicely with three straight strikeouts but the damage was already done.

Left-handed relief pitcher Richard Bleier came in relief in the ninth to try to keep the Marlins’ deficit at one but couldn’t. Fresh off the injured list, James McCann recorded a one-out single through the right side and scored on an RBI double by Brandon Nimmo making it 5-3.

The Marlins’ offense didn’t have much going for them as they only scored three runs on six hits. First baseman Garrett Cooper was able to extend his hitting streak to ten games with a leadoff single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth.

Jesús Sánchez had some good at-bats, going 1-for-4 with an upper-deck two-run home run to right field making the game 3-2. Bryan De La Cruz would later tie the game in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left field that rang off the foul pole.

On a day that the Marlins celebrated his Bahamian heritage and distributed bobbleheads of his likeness, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit the ball hard. He went 1-4 with a double down the left field line. In his last plate appearance, Chisholm was also about ten feet away from tying the game as he flew out to deep center field.

Jorge Soler and Jesús Aguilar both went 1-for-4 with base knocks in the loss.

The Fish are currently 1-5 against the Mets through their first six regular season meetings. The first-place Mets have already clinched this series win entering Sunday’s finale.

Don Mattingly’s Postgame Press Conference

Baseball Savant

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What’s next?

The Miami Marlins will look to avoid getting swept in their series finale against the New York Mets. Left-handed pitcher Daniel Castano will be on the mound for the Marlins. The “Italian Stallion” has pitched well this season for Miami. Castano has made five appearances and two starts. He has posted a 0-1 record with a 2.57 ERA (164 ERA+) and 1.57 WHIP.

The Mets will have left-handed pitcher David Peterson on the mound. Max Scherzer was originally projected to pitch in the series finale but was pushed back—he’ll go through one more start during his minor league rehab assignment before returning to the club. Peterson has pitched very well for the Mets this season. He has made ten appearances including eight starts and has posted a 4-1 record. He also possesses a 3.18 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 3.91 FIP, and a .235 opponent batting average.

One of the earliest games on the 2022 Marlins schedule, Sunday’s first pitch is at 12:05 pm EST. It’s being televised exclusively on Peacock.