Mets 5, Marlins 1
MIAMI -- Pinch hitter Eric Campbell drove in the winning run in a four-run eighth inning, leading the surging New York Mets to their fifth consecutive win, a 5-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
Campbell, hitting just .175 entering the at-bat, lofted a soft single over the head of the shortstop, driving in first baseman Lucas Duda from second base. Center fielder Juan Lagares followed with a two-run triple.
Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson, who struck out in his first three at-bats -- all against left-handers -- capped the rally with a run-scoring double. All of the Mets' scoring in the inning happened against lefty reliever Mike Dunn (1-5).
The first-place Mets, who haven't led the National League East this late in a season since 2008, improved to 57-50.
Miami (43-64) lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
The win went to left-hander Jonathon Niese (6-9), who pitched his 10th quality start in his past 11 outings. He allowed four hits, one walk and one run in seven innings, striking out six and lowering his ERA to 3.51.
Mets starters have allowed two runs or fewer in nine of the past 10 games.
Marlins starter Brad Hand, also a left-hander, was not scored on, yet he only lasted four innings. He left the game with a 1-0 lead, but the problem was his high pitch count (84).
Hand, who allowed five hits and one walk, stranded the bases loaded in the first inning and also got a great running catch in deep center field by Christian Yelich on what -- in most stadiums -- would have been a home run for third baseman Juan Uribe.
Miami opened the scoring in the third. Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria walked, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hand and scored on second baseman Dee Gordon's single off the glove of diving Mets second baseman Wilmer Flores.
The Mets tied the score 1-1 in the sixth. Flores pulled a two-out double off the wall in left and scored on an opposite-field single by shortstop Ruben Tejada. Miami's Cole Gillespie gathered Tejada's hit in shallow right field and fired home, but Flores did a good job of avoiding the tag, touching the plate with his left hand.
NOTES: Mets CF Juan Lagares, a Gold Glove winner last year but on the bench lately due to poor offensive production, made just his third start since July 24. ... New York LHP Steven Matz (partially torn left lat muscle) threw a ball Monday for the first time since getting hurt July 6. Matz, 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in two starts, is expected back early next month. ... Mets OF Michael Cuddyer (knee) is running and could be activated this weekend at Tampa Bay. ... Mets 3B David Wright (back) could begin playing rehab games later this week. ... Marlins RHP Tom Koehler is 0-2 with a 14.73 ERA against the Mets this year. He is 8-6 with a 2.26 ERA against the rest of the majors.