NY Mets 12 at Miami 1 - Recap

MIAMI -- Jay Bruce and Yoenis Cespedes hit their 31st homers of the season to lead the New York Mets to a 12-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.

Bruce hit a two-run homer in the second, and Cespedes matched him in the third as the Mets (84-74) kept their narrow lead over the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL wild-card race. At most, only two of those three teams will make the playoffs.

New York broke the game open with a five-run eighth inning, getting a two-run single by Curtis Granderson and a three-run double by Lucas Duda. Granderson added an RBI double in a three-run ninth.

The Mets' 19 hits were the most allowed by Miami this season. In the past two Mets wins, New York has outscored its competition by a combined score of 29-1.

Jose Reyes went 3-for-6, and six Mets had two hits apiece.

Miami (78-79), playing its second game since the death of pitcher Jose Fernandez in a boating accident on Sunday, was much more subdued than it was Monday in a highly emotional 7-3 win over New York.

Noah Syndergaard (14-9) earned the win, striking out eight and walking none while allowing just five hits and one run in six innings. He also hit two singles, raising his batting average to .190 this season.

Miami's Tom Koehler (9-13), making perhaps his last start of his season, allowed six hits, four walks and four runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Dee Gordon scored a first-inning run for the second consecutive day. He homered Monday, but this time he played small ball, getting a bunt hit, stealing second and scoring on a Marcell Ozuna single.

New York took a 2-1 lead in the second. After Granderson drew a four-pitch leadoff walk, Bruce pulled the next pitch 396 feet to the upper deck in right field.

There was a similar pattern in the third. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a leadoff single, and the next batter, Cespedes, pulled a 432-foot blast to left.

NOTES: Marlins 3B Martin Prado reportedly agreed to a three-year, $30 million extension. ... Marlins LF Marcell Ozuna said Jose Fernandez had invited him to go out on his boat after the Saturday night's game. Ozuna declined the invitation because his wife and kids were waiting to see him. A couple of hours later, Fernandez and two friends died in an early-morning boat crash. ... Memorial services for Fernandez include a public viewing on Wednesday and a mass on Thursday. ... Mets LHP Steven Matz (bone spurs in left elbow) will have season-ending surgery. He should be ready to pitch again in three months and joins three other Mets starting pitchers who are already out for the season: RHPs Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler. ... This three-game series ends Wednesday in a battle of right-handers: Seth Lugo of the Mets and Jose Urena of the Marlins. Lugo is 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA in his past six starts.