Marlins
MIAMI -- Jose Fernandez improved his Marlins Park record to 26-1 and Giancarlo Stanton drilled a massive two-run, go-ahead homer to lead the Miami Marlins to a 7-2 win over the New York Mets on Saturday night.
Stanton went 4-for-5 with three RBIs for his first four-hit game since Aug. 8, 2012. He also has five homers in his past three games against the Mets.
His third-inning homer down the left-field line bounced off the scoreboard about 50 feet up. Unimpeded, the ball was projected to have traveled 441 feet.
Fernandez (12-4, 2.54 ERA) went seven innings, allowing seven hits, two walks and two runs with six strikeouts. He improved his career home ERA to 1.47.
Offensively, Fernandez singled and drove in a run in the second inning and singled and scored a run in the fourth. He is hitting .265 this season.
Losing what was supposed to be a pitching duel was Jacob deGrom (6-5), who lasted just 3 2/3 innings -- the second shortest outing of his career. DeGrom allowed 10 hits, one walk and five runs.
The Marlins (53-44), who are second in the NL East, moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mets (51-45) in the division race. Miami had 16 hits in the game.
Indeed, just about everything went right for the Marlins except for the fact that pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki grounded out to second in the eighth. He is still four hits shy of 3,000 in his Major League Baseball career.
With none on and two out in the second inning, the Marlins rallied to score the game's first run. Adeiny Hechavarria doubled off the wall in right-center field and scored on a Fernandez single that barely got under Jose Reyes' glove at third base.
DeGrom got even in the third when his leadoff double down the right-field line led to a two-run rally and gave the Mets a 2-1. Curtis Granderson singled, Yoenis Cespedes had an opposite-field RBI single and James Loney capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Miami regained the lead at 3-2 in the bottom of the third on Stanton's two-run homer. It was his 21st long ball of the season.
Fernandez got his second hit of the night to lead off the fourth, and when he came around to score on another Stanton single, that was it for deGrom.
The Marlins made it 5-2 later in the inning when Derek Dietrich drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Seth Lugo.
Miami padded its lead to 6-2 in the fifth on Martin Prado's RBI single.
NOTES: A first-inning, line-drive single by Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton was clocked at 118 mph. ... The top four National League teams in the wild-card playoff race -- the Marlins, Mets, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers -- started Saturday tied in the loss column (44). ... Marlins 1B Justin Bour, who went on the disabled list on July 6 because of an ankle sprain, said he is "1,000 percent" ready in terms of hitting but needs some work on defense and baserunning. Bour, who has 15 homers, should start a minor-league rehab assignment in a couple of days and could return next week. ... Mets 1B Lucas Duda (back) is about two weeks from starting a minor-league rehab assignment. ... Mets LHP Steven Matz, who starts against the Marlins on Sunday, is 0-5 with a 4.79 ERA in his past nine outings. Miami will counter with RHP Jose Urena (1-1, 7.52) in the series finale.