Liam Hicks hits two home runs as Miami Marlins beat Mets to take series
Liam Hicks, who quickly got off to one of the best starts at the plate in MLB this season, has had a relatively quiet May. He entered the Miami Marlins’ game against the New York Mets hitting just .217 in the calendar month, an extended stretch that dropped his overall batting average for the season by more than 40 points. More than one-quarter of his hits — four of the 15 — came in one game.
Hicks, who splits time between catcher, first base and designated hitter for the Marlins, found his stroke again on Saturday and gave Miami some needed pop.
The 26-year-old logged his first career multi-home run game in the Marlins’ 4-1 win over the New York Mets at loanDepot park, hitting solo shots in the third and fifth innings to provide some key insurance runs to clinch the series.
Miami (24-29), which won the series opener 2-1 on Friday, will go for the sweep of the Mets (22-30) at 1:40 p.m. Sunday.
The home runs were Nos. 10 and 11 for Hicks this season but the first since going deep on May 7, ending a stretch of 14 games (12 starts) without a long ball.
Both homers came against Mets starter Freddy Peralta. In the third, Hicks got hold of a middle-middle curveball and sent it 389 feet to right-center field. In the fifth, he sent a middle-in four-seam fastball 356 feet to right field.
Hicks now has 44 RBI on the season, second in MLB behind only the Washington Nationals’ CJ Abrams (45 entering Saturday).
Outfielder Owen Caissie opened scoring for the Marlins with a two-run double in the second inning. Caissie has hits in eight of his past 10 starts dating back to May 6. He is hitting 8 for 28 (.286) with one double, two home runs and nine RBI in that span. During this stretch, his batting average has gone from .198 to .218 over this stretch, while his on-base-plus-slugging has jumped from .575 to .650.
It all backed the latest gem from starting pitcher Max Meyer, who tossed seven shutout innings. He held the Mets to just one hit and three walks while striking out eight and not allowing a runner to get into scoring position.
Meyer has posted scoreless outings in three of his five starts in May and has dropped his ERA to 2.52 for the season.
Anthony Bender retired all four batters he faced before giving way to Andrew Nardi, who gave up a pair of two-out doubles in the ninth to break up Miami’s shutout bid but sealed the win by getting the final two outs.
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