MIAMI -- The Mets continued their late-season surge on Wednesday night with a wild 15-14 win over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
This game was not for those who love good pitching, as the teams combined for 29 runs, 35 hits and 49 baserunners.
New York had an 8-0 lead with one out in the top of the second inning only to see the Marlins rally to tie it in the sixth.
The Mets put up six more runs in the seventh and that, really, should have ended it. Only it did not.
Things were just getting warmed up.
Miami and New York traded runs and the Mets entered the bottom of the eighth up 15-9. The Marlins scored twice that inning and then three more times in the ninth to pull within a run with one out.
Tobias Myers came on with the potential tying run at first base. Javier Sanoja singled, but Myers struck out Owen Caissie before ending the game by getting Graham Pauley to pop up to Francisco Lindor.
“We got the two-point conversion and the touchdowns for the win,’’ Mets interim manager Andy Green joked. “That’s as crazy a game as you will see. Love the resilience. You give up an eight-run lead then you add six more on to the lead -- and they keep coming back. It was one of those days where it was tough to get anyone out. Our guys had to be gritty and determined to get that win.”
Myers, Green said, was New York’s last available pitcher after running through six others in the game.
Regardless, Myers put the finishing touches on the Mets’ sweep of the Marlins -- their third series sweep since Aug. 4-6.
New York, which scored just two runs in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins here in May, has won four straight and has three consecutive series wins.
Since selling at the Trade Deadline on Aug. 3, the Mets are 21-12.
“It kind of felt like we were going to score no matter what,” Lindor said. “That was the vibe in the dugout. That’s a good feeling when you look to the side and you know that person is going to come through. You don’t have to be the hero. Just let the game play out.”
Wednesday, the Mets got things rolling against Janson Junk in the second with five straight hits -- including a two-run double from Luis Torrens -- to take a 4-0 lead.
Junk then hit Lindor with a pitch before the Marlins recorded the first out of the inning. New York added two more runs before the inning was done.
“I feel like it's a different team than we faced a month ago,’’ Junk said. “They do have a good lineup.’’
The Mets lost first baseman Brett Baty when he came up limping on a single through the infield that gave New York a 2-0 lead. Baty appeared to avoid a significant injury.
He was replaced by former Marlins infielder Christopher Morel, who came up with one out and one on in the third.
Morel’s first homer with the Mets made it 8-0. Morel had himself a night against his former teammates, adding a double and an RBI single.
“The hardest part was [going] first-to-home straight off the bench,’’ Green said. “That he didn’t pop two hamstrings right there was a minor miracle in itself. Then he pops a homer the next time, a double and a single. You look up, and he has a shot at the cycle after coming off the bench. That stuff just doesn’t happen. Credit to him, we don’t win that game without him playing the way he did.’’
Miami started its crawl back into the game with three runs in the fourth before scoring five in the sixth -- Caissie led off the inning with a homer to center -- to tie the score at 8.
The Marlins never did take the lead.
In the seventh, the Mets loaded the bases before A.J. Ewing’s sacrifice fly to center gave New York the lead back for good at 9-8.
The Mets ended up tacking on five more runs, including three off a line-drive homer to the right-field corner from Lindor for a 14-8 lead.
And, they needed every one of them.
“Felt like a pre-pitch clock game,” Lindor said after the game went 3 hours, 38 minutes. “A lot of momentum shifts. But the bullpen and the offense, they stayed grimey. They continued to fight and continued to push. We continued to rely on each other, and the offense came through.’’
Miami cut into its big deficit on a solo shot from Joe Mack in the bottom of the seventh -- a run that was matched on a single from Torrens to make it 15-9.
But the Marlins still had plenty of fight left -- only the Mets did not let this game fully get away from them again.
“Every game this series, we hopped out to a lead,” Green said. “We put pressure on them immediately. To their credit, they came back on us every single time. To see our guys respond is indicative of the type of hitters and players we have. You could call out anyone’s name up-and-down the lineup. There were huge at-bats tonight.”