Timely error, Scott's dominance propel Marlins to series-opening win

Trailing by a score of 2-1 in the top of the fifth, the Miami Marlins offense started threatening against New York Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill. Marlins SS Tim Anderson, who enjoyed his best all-around game as a Marlin on Tuesday night, started the rally with a single and subsequent sharp baserunning placed him on third with one out. After a Jazz Chisholm Jr. walk, Bryan De La Cruz plated Anderson with a double to the left-center field gap that tipped off the glove of Mets CF Harrison Bader. The turning point of the contest, however, came two batters later in the form of a Jake Burger ground ball.

Following a Josh Bell fly out, Burger ripped the fourth pitch of his at-bat to Mark Vientos at third base. Vientos made a great sliding play to his backhand side and it looked like Megill and the Mets were going to stop the bleeding and head into the bottom of the fifth with the game tied.

Fortunately for the Marlins, Vientos rushed his throw to first base, pulling Pete Alonso off the bag and allowing Burger to reach on an error.

The mishap gave Miami a 3-2 lead, one which the Marlins were able to hold onto the rest of the night as they started their six-game road trip with a 4-2 victory.

Miami got the scoring started early in the second inning. The aforementioned Anderson notched his first RBI since May 5 with a two-out single. Additionally, it was Anderson's first game since returning from the bereavement list (he had missed the Marlins' previous series as a result).

Getting to Megill early was key for a Marlins team that could not figure out the righty last season, as Megill won both of his outings in dominant fashion against the Fish in 2023, allowing two earned runs in 11 innings of work.

On the mound for the Marlins was ace Jesús Luzardo, who was coming off one of the worst outings of his career a week prior against the Rays. Similar to Megill, Luzardo ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a hit by pitch. After what Luzardo described as a "hairy" inning, he was able to "follow through with (him and Nick Fortes') game plan", finishing his night with 5 ⅔ innings pitched and allowing just two additional hits in his final 2 ⅔ innings before being pulled for Anthony Bender.

Both the Mets and Marlins bullpens would hold steady up until the ninth inning, with Bender, Andrew Nardi and Tanner Scott (who we will get to in just a minute) on the Marlins side putting up zeroes.

In the ninth, behind Otto Lopez and Nick Gordon, Miami would tack on an important insurance run. After Lopez continued his continued his career-high seven-game hit streak with a single, he successfully stole second and advanced to third on a Francisco Alvarez overthrow. Gordon then pushed a Adam Ottavino sweeper just deep enough to left field to plate Lopez on a sacrifice fly.

This brings us to Tanner Scott, who Marlins manager Skip Schumaker called upon to pitch the eighth inning against the meat of the Mets lineup. After going one-two-three, Schumaker decided it was best to stick with Scott for a six-out save opportunity. The powerful lefty proved his manager right, as he breezed through the trio of Starling Marte, Vientos and Tyrone Taylor, locking down the victory for Miami.

When asked how he prepared for the first six-out save of his eight-year career, Scott noted that he was, like always, "just trying to get outs" in any situation he is faced with. "You feel really good with Tanner with one run, but especially with two runs," Schumaker said postgame when asked about his closer and the insurance run in the top of the frame.

It has been nearly two months since Scott last allowed an earned run on April 14, a streak that spans 20 innings. His last run allowed of any kind came on April 30.

The Marlins look to secure a series victory Wednesday night in The Big Apple with Braxton Garrett taking the mound. Garrett, like Luzardo, is coming off a rough start in which he allowed five earned runs in just 2 ⅔ innings pitched against the same Rays. David Peterson, who owns a 2-2 record and 2.06 ERA against Miami in his career, takes the ball for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm.