QUEENS, NY — Miami Marlins pitcher Max Meyer took a no-hitter into the sixth inning while his side shut out the New York Mets 5-0 on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
The loss snaps the Mets’ (8-4) six-game win streak, and it is their first defeat at home, as they were held to just two hits a day after hanging 10 runs on Miami.
Meyer allowed two hits in 6.1 scoreless innings of work — his no-hit bit spoiled with one out in the sixth inning by a Francisco Lindor single — while striking out four and walking two.
“The way he used all of his pitches, I thought the backdoor slider to lefties was right on the corner,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He got swings and misses, he used his fastball effectively, he stayed on the attack. The main thing was his secondary pitches, whether it was a slider, or sweeper, he threw it for strikes and he got chases too.”
Fifty-one of Meyer’s 82 pitches were either sliders or sinkers, and he got a combined seven whiffs on the day.
Matt Mervis drove in three runs, including a two-run home run in a three-run ninth inning against Mets closer Edwin Diaz to put the game out of reach.
Tylor Megill allowed two unearned runs on six hits in four-plus innings of work with seven strikeouts and three walks, partially undone by a throwing error committed by second baseman Brett Baty in the fifth inning.
“I was definitely like a searching day today,” Megill, who entered Wednesday with a 0.87 ERA this season, said. “Mechanics didn’t feel too well.”
He navigated his way through an abundance of traffic — including a first-inning, bases-loaded jam — through the first four innings while driving up his pitch count, and at 81 pitches, was given the chance to start the fifth.
The Marlins took advantage.
Kyle Stowers led the frame off with a single and was able to advance to second when a spinning Baty threw wide of Lindor on a Jonah Bride grounder that could have been a double play.
“Slower ball to my left, fielded it on the left-hand side,” Baty said. ” Came up, threw off one leg, and just threw it a little wide. Just sailed on me… If I went back to that play again, I’d probably do the same thing.”
One pitch later, Mervis singled to center to give the Marlins a lead and end Megill’s day. Max Kranick got the first two men he faced, but Nick Fortes’ blooper dropped right in front of Brandon Nimmo in left field to score Bride from second and put Miami up two.
Lindor picked up the Mets’ first hit of the day off Meyer with one out in the sixth inning — a clean single to center — but Juan Soto immediately rolled into an inning-ending double play to stymie any momentum.
“He’s a really good arm,” Baty said of Meyer. “He’s got really good stuff. His sliders go a lot of late action, and then his heater’s really good, too.”
Pete Alonso singled down the left-field line to lead off the seventh before a Brandon Nimmo flyout that ended Meyer’s day after 82 pitches. Anthony Bender got the final two outs of the frame, then breezed through the eighth inning.
The Marlins picked up their third run of the day in the ninth inning of Diaz when Bride punched an RBI single to right. He came in to score on Mervis’ home run, which came on a one-out, 3-2 pitch.
