J.T. Riddle hits walk-off, Marlins defeat Mets 4-2

The Miami Marlins recorded its third straight victory and 5th win over the New York Mets in nine days, in a 4-2 win Sunday afternoon.

Dan Straily wasn’t near perfect but he pitched extremely well, allowing zero hits through 5.1 innings of work. He walked and struck out five batters but lost his chance at the victory after the Miami bullpen blew the save in the 9th inning. Straily struggled with his control early on and his high pitch count eventually knocked him out of the game in the 5th inning.

Dee Gordon was arguably the MVP of the game as he reached base three times. He led off the bottom first with a bunt single and then reached third on a wild pick-off attempt by Matt Harvey. Christian Yelich recorded a RBI groundout that rolled slowly to second base giving the Marlins an early 1-0 lead.

Straily walked his second and third batters in the 2nd and 3rd innings but was able to escape them unscathed. His changeup away and high fastball were literally unhittable as the Mets struggled to make productive contact all game long.

Gordon reached base for the second time in the bottom half of the third after he hit a bloop single to left with two outs. J.T. Realmuto then hit a crushing single to center advancing Gordon to third on a 0-2 count. Yelich was unable to drive home another run after hitting a dribbler back to Harvey, who picked it up and barely beat Yelich to the bag ending the Marlins threat.

In the 4th, Giancarlo Stanton drew a walk to lead off the inning but was called out after Ozuna hits a blazing rocket to right that hits Stanton in the leg. Marcell recorded a single on the play, but the Fish lost an opportunity to extend its lead.

Ozuna was productive defensively too as he made what was probably the play of the game in the 5th inning. He saved Straily’s no-hit bid after making a spectacular home-run-saving play, robbing Jose Reyes of a game-tying solo shot to left. Straily was able to escape the 5th unscathed after striking out Harvey to end the inning.

Straily would struggle in the 5th walking Neil Walker for the third time, each of which was a five-pitch at-bat. He then walked Yoenis Cespedes too, putting two men on base with one out in the 5th. Straily’s control was a problem all game long, giving him a very high pitch count through 5.1 innings --- only 53 of 93 pitches were for strikes.

He was taken out of the game after throwing 5.1 innings of no-hit baseball. He recorded five strikeouts but also walked five in the game.

Jarlin Garcia relieved Straily making the second appearance of his career. He struck out Jay Bruce on a filthy slider after reaching a full count and then got Lucas Duda to fly out keeping the Mets out of the hit column through six.

Yelich hit a leadoff single in 6th followed by a 4-pitch walk to Justin Bour putting two on with Ozuna at the plate.Marcell crushed a liner to left-center on the first pitch of the at-bat scoring Yelich to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.

This was a funky play as Bour seemed to have slid into home plate safely, but the replay showed that he was blocked from the plate, never touching home. The Marlins had an opportunity to challenge the play, as Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud looked to have blocked Bour from touching home before the ball was in his glove, but Miami didn’t challenge giving Miami just one run on the play.

Here’s what the MLB rulebook says about the home plate collision rule:

“The catcher must have possession of the ball to block the pathway of the runner trying to score. If the umpire decides that the catcher, without the ball, blocks the pathway of the runner, then the runner is safe.”

Kyle Barraclough relieved Garcia in the 7th with the Mets still attempting to record a hit and did what he does best --- retiring the side on just seven pitches.

Brad Ziegler relieves Barraclough in the 8th but gave up two two-out singles to Walker and Cespedes giving the Mets their first chance to score in the game. He escaped the inning allowing no runs but the combined no-hitter was history.

In the 9th, David Phelps entered the game in the instead of the Miami’s everyday A.J. Ramos, who needed the day off after making appearances on Friday and Saturday.

Phelps struck out Duda to being the final frame but allowed a single to d’Arnaud giving the Mets hope with Reyes at the plate. Phelps recorded another strikeout and was just one strike away from recording the save and the victory for the Marlins, but Wilmer Flores singled to center advancing d’Arnaud to third after a Stanton error.

Asdrubal Cabrera then pinch-hit and singled to right, scoring d’Arnaud and Flores to tie the game.

Ozuna recorded a single to begin the bottom of the 9th giving the Fish a chance to earn another walk-off win. Miguel Rojas seemed to hit the game-winning ball, but Ozuna was called out on a fantastic play by the Mets fielders. Cespedes retrieved the ball off the wall in left and threw a bullet that d'Arnaud caught at home, to save the game for New York.

J.T. Riddle came up to bat next, with Rojas at third and hit a bomb to right-center giving the another walk-off victory.

The Marlins will look to continue its win streak on the road this week as they travel to Seattle, San Diego, and Philadelphia.

The series in Seattle will be Ichiro Suzuki’s first trip back since getting traded to the New York Yankees in July 2012. Tom Koehler will get the start Monday against Ariel Miranda with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 p.m.

Hero of the Game: J.T. Riddle (.394)

Villain of the Game: Addison Reed (-.366)

Play of the Game: J.T. Riddle’s two-run walk-off home run (.394)