Mets Swept In Miami As Marlins Win, 4-0, On Ninth-Inning, Walk-Off Grand Slam

The New York Mets lost their third straight game against the Miami Marlins today, 4-0, as the Marlins notched the win in the ninth inning on a walk-off grand slam by Heriberto Hernandez as the Mets completed a 2-4 road trip. 

The Mets continued to redefine offensive futility for the first eight innings, and the Marlins joined them in this particular game. They got just five hits after outfielder Juan Soto was scratched before the game due to a virus, and the offensive ineptitude produced a double shutout through the first 8-1/3 innings. 

That was when closer Devin Williams came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth, and the Marlins offense quickly woke up. A line-drive double to right by Christopher Morel put the Mets in trouble, and Javier Sanoja dug the hole deeper for New York by laying down a perfect sacrifice bunt to get him to third.

The Mets pitched around Liam Hicks, which was shocking that they'd pitch to him at all given the situation, but after they finally walked him they intentionally walked Xavier Edwards to load the bases. It was obvious as soon as Hernandez swung that the game was over with the outfielders playing shallow, but the ball kept carrying and the Marlins ended up walking off on a grand slam. 

Williams was the obvious goat, but it’s hard to win when you don’t score, and the Mets produced just two runs in three games in Miami over the weekend. A.J. Ewing did have a pair of hits, but most of the chances the Mets had to score were mediocre opportunities, and they were also unable to capitalize on five walks from Marlins pitchers as they failed to get a single extra-base hit today.

The Marlins went with an opener in this one, with Tyler Phillips throwing the first 3-2/3 innings in the combined shutout. A series of five relievers duplicated his scoreless feat by shutting down the Mets, with closer Pete Fairbanks getting the win based on Hernandez’s ninth-inning heroics. 

Christian Scott posted the best start of his young Mets career as he scattered four hits and two walks while striking out five over 5-2/3 innings, and Huascar Brazoban, Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver all followed with scoreless efforts. Williams took the loss to drop his record to 3-1, and the grand slam jumped his ERA back up to an ugly 6.35. 

The Mets now head home to play the Cincinnati Reds in a Memorial Day afternoon game, with this series being a horrific reminder of how badly they failed in Miami last year in the final weekend of their disastrous season as they chug toward another one.