The first was a moon shot. The second was a laser beam.
When it comes to home runs, Giancarlo Stanton hits them high and he hits them hard. On Wednesday, in only his second game back from the disabled list, he swatted one of each as the Marlins recorded their most lopsided win of the season with a 13-0 pounding of the New York Mets.
Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to 26 consecutive games, and rookie pitcher Nathan Eovaldi notched his second win since arriving from Los Angeles in the Hanley Ramirez deal.
But, on artistic merit alone, the night belonged to Stanton.
Stanton lofted a towering, two-run shot in the first inning that seemed to hang in the air forever at Citi Field. Four innings later, he drilled a two-run missile to left that was gone in no time.
“They were completely different,” Stanton said. “And two different pitches — fastball and slider. The first one, I thought, no chance. The second one, I got it good.”
And, oh by the way, in between the two blasts he ripped a double to left and later singled to complete a 4-for-5 night at the plate.
Think the Marlins missed Stanton during the month he spent on the disabled list recuperating from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee? The good news for the Marlins is that, by every appearance, Stanton is back and better than ever.
Knee? What knee?
Stanton wasn’t the Marlins’ only source of power in recording back-to-back wins for the first time since July 28-29.
It was Reyes who connected first. His two-out, first-inning solo shot, which struck the upper deck facing in right, not only put the Marlins on top, but also removed any suspense involving his hitting streak.
Reyes’ 26-game streak is the longest of the season in the majors and matches the second-longest by a Marlin. Emilio Bonifacio also had a 26-game streak last season.
It marked the 11th time during his streak that Reyes collected a hit in his first at-bat. Only once during the stretch, which began with the first game after the All-Star break on July 13, has Reyes waited until his final at-bat to record his first hit of the game.
As a side note, Reyes’ hitting streak is the longest by a reigning batting champion since Joe DiMaggio’s major league-record, 56-game streak in 1941. Greg Dobbs later added a two-run homer, giving the Marlins four home runs in a game for the first time all season.
In addition to Stanton, Reyes and Dobbs, Carlos Lee supplied offensive help in the form of a two-run single in the fifth. Lee has driven in 22 runs since the Marlins acquired him in a trade with Houston on July 4. Since the All-Star break, only two National League players have more RBI.
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Bryan Petersen put the game out of reach in the eighth with his bases-loaded triple. It was only the second time this season the Marlins scored double-digit runs.
All of it added up to more than enough run support for Eovaldi, who struggled with his control but managed to keep the Mets from scoring. He walked six batters and gave up four hits in only five innings but worked out of jams when he needed.
The Mets had the leadoff hitter aboard in five of the six innings that Eovaldi started, including three on walks, but were never able to capitalize.
“I got myself into trouble with a lot of leadoff walks, but I was able to make the pitches when it really mattered,” Eovaldi said.
Manager Ozzie Guillen lifted the 22-year-old pitcher after he gave up a leadoff double in the sixth to Jordany Valdespin, followed by a walk to Andres Torres.
But Ryan Webb got out of the inning by inducing a double play grounder out of Josh Thole and another ground-ball out by Jason Bay.
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