 won his fourth consecutive decision. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits. He struck out nine without walking a batter and retired the final 11 batters he faced.Seth Lugo pitched a perfect eighth and Edwin Diaz worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his 20th save in 24 opportunities.New York's Jeff McNeil had two hits for his 18th multi-hit game in his last 33 games. The NL batting leader is hitting .410 (34 for 83) over his last 20 games.Dominic Smith hit a one-out single in the eighth before Cano stepped to the plate against Nick Anderson (2-4) and delivered his first home run since June 17 at Atlanta, ending a drought of 71 at-bats without a homer.Michael Conforto hit a two-run homer to right field to give the Mets the early lead. It was Conforto's 17th home run of the season.The Marlins tied the game at 2 in the fourth on a double by Harold Ramirez and a triple to the right-field corner by Jorge Alfaro.TRAINER'S ROOMMets: C Wilson Ramos, who collided with Starlin Castro in the eighth inning of Friday's game, did not play. ''He just caught a spike in the knee, but he didn't twist his knee or anything, he's fine,'' Mets manager Mickey Callaway said after Friday's game.UP NEXTMets: RHP Jacob deGrom (4-7, 3.27 ERA) has thrown seven consecutive quality starts, going 1-2 with a 2.68 ERA during that span.Marlins: RHP Sandy Alcantara (4-8, 3.82) is 2-2 with a 2.14 ERA in five starts against the Mets.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Syndergaard gets start against Marlins amid trade rumorsFLMRight-hander Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to take the mound Saturday on the road against the Miami Marlins to open what could be the final second half of his New York Mets tenure.Reports circulated this week that the Mets could be interested in moving Syndergaard by the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but a heavy return of multiple top prospects is likely desired, putting chances of a deal in question.Yet Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen did admit before Friday's game in Miami that a roster shakeup will happen, although not a complete roster overhaul."Well, I said it," Van Wagenen told reporters after first saying in the offseason that National League East teams need to come and get the Mets. "I think what you'll learn and what I hope to always be is that I want to say what I believe, and I wasn't shy in the offseason. But they came and got us, and I think that now we view ourselves as the underdogs." It has been a below-average season for Syndergaard (6-4, 4.68 ERA), who is hoping that a move to a personal catcher in Tomas Nido gives him more of a chance at delivering the results he desires. Nido has also developed into a personal catcher for Jacob deGrom.Nido's presence behind the plate for the star starters is reportedly due to his ability to handle low pitches, among other nuisances, over fellow catcher Wilson Ramos. It was Ramos, though, who drove in two runs Friday during an 8-4 loss to the Marlins.More than a move to a personal catcher, a matchup against the Marlins is probably what Syndergaard needs most. He has dominated the team in nine career starts, going 6-1 with a 1.74 ERA over 62 innings. At Marlins Park, he is 4-1 with a 2.31 ERA over six starts (39 innings).The Marlins will counter Saturday with rookie Zac Gallen (0-1, 4.50), as the right-hander makes his fourth career start. Gallen last pitched on July 2, in an outing that was shortened to two innings against the Washington Nationals because of a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay. He gave up two runs on three hits, including his first home run."You only pitch every five days, so you want to make the most of it when you are out there. It's not fun when your outing gets cut short," Gallen said. "We definitely had a little different idea of the game plan, and I wanted to see how it worked out. They had some new guys in the lineup that weren't there a week ago." His previous outing was also against the Nationals on June 26 when he gave up three runs on four hits over five innings with eight strikeouts. In his major league debut June 20 against the St. Louis Cardinals, he gave up one run on five hits over five innings but ended up with a no-decision."There's going to be a learning curve from game to game," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Is it going to be consistency, start-in and start-out?"The Marlins have now won four consecutive games against the Mets this season, all at Miami, after starting the year 0-5 against New York.--Field Level Media
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