Mets vs. Marlins Recap: Niese pitches well, offense breaks out late for win

The Mets are on a little bit of a roll. They won again on Tuesday night in Miami, their fifth-straight victory, scoring four runs in the eighth inning, the first of which broke a 1-1 tie at the time. That leaves the Mets in sole possession of first place this morning.

Jon Niese was very good in his start. He went seven innings, gave up just one run on a Dee Gordon single in the third inning before getting out of a first-and-third jam with a double play, and struck out six. He has been pitching as well over the past couple of months as he ever has in his major league career.

Despite having a few early opportunities to score against Marlins pitcher Brad Hand, the Mets did not plate a run until the sixth inning. With Wilmer Flores on second base, Ruben Tejada singled to right. Flores came in to score, thanks in no small part to a terrific slide that he made to get around the catcher and touch home plate safely.

The Mets took the lead and ran with it in the eighth despite some curious baseball strategy. With runners and first and second and nobody out, Terry Collins opted to have Wilmer Flores bunt rather than swing away, and Flores botched the bunt by popping it up. But two batters later, pinch-hitter Eric Campbell came through with a single to put the Mets ahead. With two runners still on base, Juan Lagares tripled to score them, and then Curtis Granderson doubled to score Lagares.

That four-run lead was more than enough for the Mets’ bullpen. Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless eighth, and Jeurys Familia threw a scoreless ninth.

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Win Probability Added

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Big winners: Eric Campbell, +26.9% WPA, Jon Niese, +25.7% WPA, Ruben Tejada, +10.3% WPA
Big losers: Wilmer Flores, -16.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Eric Campbell’s pinch-hit, go-ahead single in the eighth, +26.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Dee Gordon’s run-scoring single in the third, -10.3% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +29.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: +20.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Eric Campbell