Brandon Nimmo slugged a three-run home run and Taijuan Walker struck out 10 batters in seven innings, leading the New York Mets to a 9-3 win over the host Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
Brian Anderson belted two homers and drove in all three Marlins runs.
Mets catcher Tomas Nido had perhaps his best game of the season, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs, three runs and his first homer of the season.
Jeff McNeil went 3-for-4 with two runs and Eduardo Escobar slugged a homer as New York (89-52) banged 14 hits and improved to 46-22 this year against the National League East.
Nimmo, New York’s leadoff man, went 2-for-4 with the homer, a double, two walks, one run, three RBIs and one steal. It was his first steal of the season in three attempts.
Walker (11-4) earned the win, allowing five hits, no walks and one run. He is 4-0 in five starts against Miami this season.
The starting pitcher for Miami (57-82) was knocked out in the fourth inning for the second straight game. This time, it was Jesus Luzardo (3-7), who allowed six hits, three walks and five runs in 3 1/3 innings.
The Mets made Luzardo work in all four of his innings, even in a scoreless first. In that frame, Nimmo hit a leadoff double, and Luzardo needed 29 pitches to get out of trouble.
In the second, McNeil singled and Nido walked before Nimmo pulled a 2-1 changeup to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
The Mets made it 4-0 in the third as Francisco Lindor was hit by a pitch, advanced on a groundout and scored on McNeil’s single.
In the fourth, the Mets loaded the bases when singles by Nido and Lindor sandwiched a Nimmo walk. Pete Alonso then got his team-high 109th RBI by beating out a would-be double-play grounder.
Miami got on the board in the bottom of the fourth as Anderson hit a leadoff homer, ambushing a first-pitch fastball. The Marlins nearly got more in the same inning when Garrett Cooper singled and Nick Fortes lofted a deep drive. However, left fielder Mark Canha sprinted back and jumped to catch the ball while bumping into the fence.
Nido’s two-run double in the fifth extended New York’s lead to 7-1, and the Mets cruised from there.
–Field Level Media
