The Mets got to Sandy Alcantara early but couldn't tack on before the Marlins plated six in the fifth inning as New York fell, 6-2, on Friday night in Miami.
Here are the takeaways…
-The Mets got off to a quick start thanks to Francisco Lindor, again. The Mets' shortstop launched a solo shot off of Alcantara to draw blood first. Juan Soto singled and stole second before scoring on a one-out double by Pete Alonso to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead.
Lindor also plated another in the second. After Francisco Alvarez, starting at DH, and Luis Torrens hit singles before the shortstop lined a one-out missile toward the right field line, Marlins first baseman Troy Johnson snagged the potential double and stepped on first for the double play.
-Alcantara dominated the Mets back on Aug. 31, pitching seven one-run innings at Citi Field. And after that two-run first, Alcantara hunkered down and scattered base runners. Mets batters were hitting the former Cy Young winner hard in this one, but it didn't amount to much. The Mets would get just two hits after that first inning — the last in the third — against Alcantara, who retired 13 straight before coming out for the eighth inning. He walked Lindor on four pitches to start and was pulled after seven-plus dominant innings. Alcantara tossed 100 pitches (66 strikes), allowing two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three batters.
The Mets would catch a break in the eighth after Alcantara was pulled. Soto grounded into a force out before Brandon Nimmo hit a tailor-made double play ball to Xavier Edwards, but the second baseman flipped the ball poorly to Otto Lopez covering second to allow Soto to reach safely. Alonso struck out swinging, but Jeff McNeil walked to load the bases for a pinch-hitting Mark Vientos. Vientos popped out to shallow left field to end the threat.
New York finished 1-for-10 with RISP and left seven runners on base.
–Brandon Sproat was cruising early. Aside from some hit-by-pitches, he pitched three no-hit innings before a leadoff single in the fourth put an end to that bid. But even still, Sproat threw just five pitches to get out of the fourth, thanks in large part to a double play. But the Marlins finally got to Sproat in the fifth after a leadoff single and a double off the glove of Alonso put runners on the corners with no outs. Heriberto Hernandez dropped a triple just fair down the right field line to drive in two. After Alonso had a putout that kept Hernandez at third, Jakob Marsee hit another liner to Alonso, but the first baseman could not field it properly and the Mets had to settle for the putout at first as Hernandez scampered home to give the Marlins the 3-2 lead.
After Agustin Ramirez hit a two-out single, the night was over for Sproat after 4.2 innings (61 pitches/39 strikes). Ramirez would steal second and third off of Gregory Soto — Ronny Mauricio failed to cover third when Soto had Ramirez caught stealing — before Xavier Edwards' single pushed across the fourth run of the inning. Pinch-hitter Connor Norby followed by taking Soto deep to give Miami a 6-2 lead before the inning mercifully ended.
The Marlins hit Sproat hard in the fifth and kept the young right-hander from getting through the inning. He allowed four runs on five hits and one walk while striking out just two batters.
-The Mets' bullpen had to get 52 outs in the three-game series in Chicago and were tasked to get more on Friday. In relief of Sproat, Soto was not good. The southpaw allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings pitched. Huascar Brazoban pitched a scoreless inning and Kyle Herget worked around a leadoff double to pitch a scoreless eighth.
–Carlos Mendoza put out a different-looking lineup on Friday. Aside from Alvarez playing DH, Cedric Mullins started in center because Mendoza didn't want Tyrone Taylor to play three straight games coming off the IL. Mullins went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Brett Baty started in third but left after one at-bat due to right side soreness. He was replaced by Mauricio, who went 0-for-2 and failed to cover third in that ill-fated fifth inning.
Game MVP: Sandy Alcantara
After struggling through the first three innings, the good Sandy appeared and gave his offense a chance to come back for the win.
Highlights
LET'S GET IT STARTED.
FRANCISCO LINDOR WITH A LEADOFF HOMER! pic.twitter.com/xWI0kmPywF
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 26, 2025
Pete Alonso drives in Juan Soto with his 124th RBI of the year and the Mets have a pair of runs in the first! pic.twitter.com/1UAkxY5BAj
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 26, 2025
Two strikeouts in the second for Brandon Sproat! 💪 pic.twitter.com/TiXYnSsP9V
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 26, 2025
What's next
The Mets and Marlins continue their three-game set on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m.
Clay Holmes (11-8, 3.66 ERA) will take the mound for New York, with the Marlins sending Eury Perez (7-5, 4.20 ERA) to start.
Read the full article here