MIAMI -- Miami Marlins manager Mike Redmond got heated after the top of the third inning as players rushed back into the dugout of Monday afternoon's 9-6 victory over the New York Mets.
New York had just put a four-spot on the board, taking a 4-2 lead. All-Star right-hander Henderson Alvarez had exited with a left oblique strain two outs earlier. Center fielder Marcell Ozuna's cannon of an arm -- the same one that single-handedly beat the Mets in June -- had sailed a throw into the home dugout to score an unearned run.
In other words, not an ideal start to a six-game homestand and the final month of the season. Not when there is still a remote chance at the postseason with the team sitting 5 1/2 games back in the National League wild-card race.
"I will tell you this: after that third inning guys were hot," Redmond said. "They came into the dugout. Many guys, including myself, were vocal about the way we were playing. After that I saw guys turn it up. We turned it up. That was good to see. We were able to hang in there. It wasn't perfect. We got another lead. We coughed up another lead. I felt like I logged 2.5 miles from the dugout to the mound running guys in and out, but we kept us in the game and got some big hits, great at-bats."
Five Miami relievers, including lefty Brad Hand, combined to allow just two runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings of the comeback victory.
Every starter except Donovan Solano collected at least one hit. Solano did execute a safety squeeze to drive in Adeiny Hechavarria during the decisive three-run eighth. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton knocked his NL-leading 34th home run in the first. The first six batters in the lineup recorded an RBI.
"Our bullpen stepped up big-time today," said third baseman Casey McGehee, who went 2 for 3 with two RBI. "Hopefully Alvarez is OK, but you could tell he wasn't his normal self when he was out there. Brad Hand did a good job of coming in keeping us within striking distance, the same with the rest of the guys. Lot of good at-bats up and down the order. That's what we're going to have to continue to do to have any kind of chance."
After a dismal 3-6 trip to Colorado, Anaheim and Atlanta, which included the club's first shutout in 60 games on Sunday night, the Marlins lacked energy.
For an organization promoting #WhyNotUs on Twitter, the belief didn't translate during the early innings at Marlins Park. Mets starter Zack Wheeler struck out six through three frames.
"We're not the kind of team that can come out flat and just beat people that way," McGehee said. "We've got to have a little bit of energy and urgency -- I guess is a good word. To be expected after the quick turnaround, long road trip. All that stuff there's a lot of stuff stacked against us in terms of good energy. To everybody's credit it took us a little bit to wake up but once we did it was back to normal."
So Miami chipped away at the 4-2 deficit with a three-run fifth to take the lead, only to see it disappear in the sixth. The Marlins evened the score in the bottom half in a back-and-forth game.
The stakes are heightened with just 26 games remaining. That's why Alvarez, who had been battling the oblique strain since his start in Anaheim last week, decided to take the mound. Miami is 17-4 in his last 21 starts, including winners of five of six.
"He wanted to pitch," Redmond said. "He's a competitor, it's crunch time. This is September. Everybody's on edge. We had a rough road trip. He wanted the ball."
With the victory, Miami avoided falling four below .500 for the first time since Aug. 7.
Though the wild-card probability is at just 0.6 percent and the magic number 21, according to Baseball Prospectus, stranger things have happened. Like six errors by the Mets on Monday.
"All we can do is try to win as many games as we can win," McGehee said. "We haven't put ourselves in the best position -- no doubt about it -- but all we can do is take care of what we can control, and that's try and play good baseball. If we play good enough baseball we get in and that's what'll happen. We can't really look at what everybody else is doing. Take care of business as best we can and see where it gets us. It's still a goal of ours. We haven't given up on that goal by any means, but we can't get too caught up in watching scoreboards and standings."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
