Stanton’s two homers power Marlins to 5-2 victory over the Mets
Giancarlo Stanton was not one of the Marlins picked for the All-Star Game.
That didn’t stop him from playing like one Tuesday night.
Stanton, a three-time All-Star himself, crushed two baseballs for home runs and made a crucial sliding catch that helped the Marlins bounce back for a 5-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field.
“It’s huge,’’ Stanton said. “It was more to win the game. That’s the biggest part to rebound from yesterday. We let that one slip away.”
Stanton’s 436-foot, line-drive, two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning gave the Marlins (44-40) the lead for good at 2-1 and broke a six-inning drought against Mets starter Steven Matz.
In the bottom half of the inning, Stanton broke in on contact in right field, slid and took away what could have been a game-tying hit by Juan Lagares with two runners on base.
In the same situation in the top of the eighth, Stanton hit a 424-foot, three-run home run to left for his 15th all-time at Citi Field, which gave him the most in the ballpark’s history by an opposing player.
It was Stanton’s 17th multi-home run game of his career and first since June 9, 2015. He is two home runs away from 200 for his career.
“If you look at [Stanton]’s numbers he’s still at 17 home runs and close to 50 RBI before the break,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “As rough as it’s been for him at times, he’s still got a chance to get to 40 [homers] and 100 [RBI] at the end. You feel like he’s going to be there and if he gets there it’s going to be a big boost for us.”
Stanton, who has 17 home runs and 45 RBI, said after the game he’d participate in the Home Run Derby if invited.
“Unfortunately, I missed two Home Run Derbies I was supposed to be in,” Stanton said. “Now, I've got some catching up to do.”
Stanton’s five RBI tied a career-high and was his highest single-game output since April 18, 2014.
“I’m coming back, coming back,” Stanton said. “It’s a long road from here, so that’s why I don’t worry where you’re at in the season stats. I just keep plugging away, try to win each day and at the end of the year it’ll pan out.”
The effort backed up a quality start by Wei-Yin Chen, who allowed only three hits and one run on a fourth-inning solo home run by Yoenis Cespedes. Chen went seven innings, struck out five and walked one on 87 pitches (63 strikes).
Chen walked Cespedes to start the seventh, and gave up a single to James Loney three batters later. But Stanton’s defensive gem preserved the lead.
“I had good control and my fastball had good life so I finally feel good about my pitching,’’ Chen said.
The Mets (45-38) put a run across against reliever Fernando Rodney for the second consecutive game when Alejandro De Aza hit a pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the eighth. Rodney walked Curtis Granderson with two outs, but pitched out of the jam when Cespedes grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
A.J. Ramos, who was one of four Marlins selected to the All-Star Game on Tuesday along with Rodney, picked up his 25th save after pitching a scoreless ninth.
Ramos walked Loney with two outs, but recovered by inducing Kelly Johnson to pop up in shallow center field.
Ramos converted his first save opportunity since he suffered his first blown save of the season Friday in Atlanta. That result snapped a streak of 33 consecutive saves that matched a franchise record.
INJURY UPDATE
Justin Bour was sent back to Miami on Tuesday to undergo an MRI on his ailing right ankle.
Bour, who missed his third consecutive game, planted his foot awkwardly recording an out at first base this past Saturday in Atlanta. Bour left the game limping shortly after the play.
Mattingly said Bour will miss the remainder of the road trip, which concludes Wednesday in New York, and potentially could be placed on the disabled list depending on the results of the MRI.
“Once we get the results, we’ll know,” Mattingly said. “He could come back but seems unlikely for [Wednesday]. For our next series before the break, we’d like to have a chance to use him. If not we would retro him to when it happened and he’d go on the DL.”
THIS AND THAT
Mattingly said the Marlins intend to keep their starting pitching rotation the same for their home series Friday through Sunday against the Reds — the team’s final three games before the All-Star break.
Mattingly said the team could make changes to the order of the rotation after the break. The Marlins open the second half with three games at St. Louis (July 15-17) followed by four games in Philadelphia (July 18-21).
Jose Fernandez is slated to start Friday’s game with Adam Conley pitching Saturday and Tom Koehler on Sunday.
COMING UP
▪ Wednesday: Marlins LHP Justin Nicolino (2-4, 5.34 ERA) vs. Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (4-4, 2.62 ERA), 1:10 p.m., Citi Field.
▪ Thursday: Off.
This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Stanton’s two homers power Marlins to 5-2 victory over the Mets."