McGehee caps Marlins' late rally in walk-off style

MIAMI -- Walk-off wins are trending at Marlins Park.

Casey McGehee had his turn to be mobbed by teammates after delivering an RBI single in the ninth inning that rallied the Marlins to a 4-3 win over the Mets on Monday night.

For the second straight game, the Marlins celebrated in walk-off style. On Sunday, Jeff Baker delivered the decisive hit, an RBI double that enabled Miami to beat the Dodgers, 5-4.

The Marlins improved to 6-1 on their homestand and improved to 15-5 at Marlins Park.

"It's kind of contagious," McGehee said. "All of our wins, especially this homestand, everybody feels they've been a part of it. Even the guys who haven't played regularly, they've all had a huge hand in at least one victory. It's always a good thing when you've got 25 guys feeling like they're contributing and helping. That's just kind of the way this team has been going."

Leading off the ninth inning, Christian Yelich singled off lefty Scott Rice. From that point, each team played the percentages. Right-hander Gonzalez Germen relieved Rice, and Ed Lucas executed a sacrifice bunt. With a base open, the Mets wanted no part of Giancarlo Stanton, the Major League RBI leader who had a run-scoring single in the eighth inning. Stanton was intentionally walked.

McGehee, on an 0-2 pitch, ripped a shot up the middle, and it deflected off Germen's leg. As the ball rolled into right field, Yelich scored easily.

"There is no panic out there. They're confident," manager Mike Redmond said. "They take one at-bat at a time. They know when the game is on the line they're going to step up."

The Marlins claimed their third walk-off win of the season, and it came on Redmond's 43rd birthday.

As the ninth inning was unfolding, catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tied the game in the eighth inning with an RBI double, told his manager that McGehee was going to give him a nice birthday present.

"He was wondering if he should have bunted with Lucas," Saltalamacchia said. "I was like, 'That's the right call.' He was like, 'They're going to walk Stanton.' I'm like, 'No, that's the right call. Casey's got you.' I said, 'Relax, come up here, take a front-row seat. This one's for you.'"

As predicted by his veteran catcher, McGehee came through with his fourth game-winning RBI and 12th multihit game of the season.

Asked if he received any presents for his birthday before the game, Redmond joked: "I didn't get anything. I got a win. I'll take it."

To celebrate the night, Redmond had plans with his former Marlins teammate, Mike Lowell.

The night turned out victorious for the Marlins, but until the eighth inning, it was a struggle.

Held scoreless for seven innings by Jon Niese, the Marlins trailed, 3-0, heading into the eighth. But they rallied for three runs off Daisuke Matsuzaka.

"Give Niese a lot of credit," Redmond said. "He looked good out there. We had a tough time trying to figure him out. He pretty much shut us down, but we were able to hang in there and mount a late rally."

Miami took advantage of walks to Yelich and Lucas to open the inning, and Stanton blistered an RBI single to center. The Marlins pulled to within one run when McGehee's liner to short was dropped by Omar Quintanilla. Saltalamacchia ripped an RBI double, tying the score. Only two runs were earned.

"It knuckled a little bit," Quintanilla said of McGehee's liner. "I still should have caught it. I saw it knuckling for a while and I tried to get in front of it, and it just went under my glove. That was a big play and it changed the game. I can't really think about it anymore."

Although the Marlins pulled even, they also were unable to push across the go-ahead run from third with no outs. Kyle Farnsworth replaced Matsuzaka and retired Baker on a grounder to second. Adeiny Hechavarria struck out looking and Marcell Ozuna, with the count full, grounded out to third.

Each starter was effective and worked seven innings.

Miami's Nathan Eovaldi rebounded from allowing two first-inning home runs, and the hard-throwing right-hander set a personal high with 10 strikeouts. His previous best was eight.

In all seven of Eovaldi's starts, he has thrown at least six innings. Once again, he kept his team in the game.

Until the first inning on Monday, Eovaldi also effectively kept the ball in the park.

In his first six starts, which covered 38 1/3 innings, Eovaldi gave up just one home run. On Monday, however, the Mets tagged the right-hander for two solo shots in the first inning.

Daniel Murphy blasted a one-out shot, and Curtis Granderson belted a two-out drive. Both were to right field, giving New York a quick two-run cushion.

"That first inning they were just jumping on the fastball really," Eovaldi said. "I was leaving it over the middle of the plate, and after I started mixing the slider, curveball, changeup, I was able to settle down and get them off the fastball."

Eovaldi, who has experienced many rough nights lacking run support, watched his team rally for its fifth comeback win of the season.

"It's nothing compared to last year," Eovaldi said. "There's always a chance we're going to come back or even add on to the runs we've already scored in every ballgame. The confidence is through the roof really."