For most of the game, the Marlins were toothless with runners on base. Luckily for them, that finally changed in the seventh inning.

In a game that had seen the Marlins squander seven walks in the first five innings, Miami changed its ways late in the game and emerged with a 3-2 comeback victory.

Austin Kearns led off the seventh with a walk and eventually scored the tying run. Carlos Lee also walked to lead off the eighth. He scored the game-winning run on a double by Rob Brantly.

“It’s nice to see the guys go up there and perform and not rely on [Giancarlo] Stanton to do the damage,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.

Just as bad as the Marlins had been on capitalizing on their opportunities, the Mets were even worse. They had 11 hits and three walks, but emerged with just two runs to show for it.

In the end it was Rob Brantly’s double that broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth, with his hit bringing home Lee for the game-winning run.

Making his first start in two weeks, Marlins pitcher Wade LeBlanc was a change to the Miami lineup after scheduled starter Josh Johnson was scratched with a hamstring injury. LeBlanc allowed seven hits and one run in five innings, getting a no decision.

“Efficiency-wise I wasn’t where I wanted to be,” LeBlanc said. “But at the same time I gave up one run and gave the team a chance to come back and win.”

Steve Cishek got the save in the ninth, his 15th of the year.

David Wright drove in the first run of the game in the fifth, singling home Ronny Cedeño who had reached base on a Gil Velazquez error.

The Marlins responded with a two-out triple by Gorkys Hernandez in the bottom of the inning, but Jose Reyes grounded out.

Hernandez, who entered hitting .172, had a career-best game, going 3 for 3 with a walk.

Miami went down 2-0 in the next inning after Mike Baxter hit an RBI double down the left-field line.

Stanton gave the Marlins their first run with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. Stanton has hit home runs in three of the past four games and has 37 homers on the season, despite having played in just 121 games this year.

The Marlins tied the game 2-2 in the seventh inning. For the third time in the game the Marlins had a lead-off walk — this time to Kearns — and this time they made the Mets pay for it with a bit of small ball.

Bryan Petersen bunted Kearns to second, Hernandez singled him to third and Reyes brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

• Johnson finishes the season 8-14 with a 3.81 ERA after 31 starts. Coming back from a long-term injury Johnson struggled in April — his ERA was 5.34 at the end of the month — but he rebounded later in the season, posting a 2.91 ERA in September.

Coming up

•  Tuesday: Marlins RHP Jacob Turner (1-4, 2.86 ERA) vs. New York Mets RHP R.A. Dickey (20-6, 2.69), 7:10 p.m., Marlins Park.

•  Wednesday: Marlins LHP Mark Buehrle (13-13, 3.74) vs. Mets RHP Jeremy Hefner (3-7, 5.32), 7:10 p.m., Marlins Park.

•  Scouting report: Dickey, a Cy Young Award candidate, has dominated the Marlins all year and will try to become the first pitcher to go 5-0 against the Marlins in a season.