(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Mets pay a visit to Marlins Park on Monday night for the opener of a three-game set with the Miami Marlins in a key early-season matchup between National League East rivals.
All five teams in the division entered Monday above .500 and within 1 1/2 games of each other in the standings.
New York avoided suffering a four-game sweep at Colorado on Sunday by notching a 5-1 victory behind six scoreless innings from Dillon Gee, who fanned five. David Wright, Chris Young, Lucas Duda, Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy all hit doubles for the Mets offense.
Miami has won five of six after knocking off the Los Angeles Dodgers at home on Sunday, 5-4. Jeff Baker's RBI double with two outs in the ninth inning scored Adeiny Hechavarria for the winning run.
But when it comes to the Marlins offense, all eyes continue to be fixed on slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who blasted two more tapemeasure home runs on Sunday. Stanton leads the NL with 10 home runs and 36 RBI on the season.
"It's almost like you sort of get used to it, which is crazy," manager Mike Redmond said. "The second one was like a 54-degree wedge you want to keep down in the wind. I don't know if I've ever seen a baseball hit that hard on a line."
Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will hope to get some more run production from Stanton and company on Monday. Eovaldi has posted a 0.95 ERA over his last three outings and gave up just one run and three hits in seven innings during Wednesday's 9-3 win over Atlanta. He struck out five and walked one.
Meanwhile, Mets starter Jon Niese gave up one run and four hits in Tuesday's 6-1 win over Philadelphia as he went seven innings despite persistent rainfall. Niese has pitched at least six innings and allowed one run in each of his last three starts.
"He's done a tremendous job the way he's handled inclement weather. Not just the cold, but the wet, soft mounds," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He went out and pitched another great game."
The Mets took two of three from the Marlins in New York last weekend. However, Miami is a major league-best 14-5 at home this season.
"We have a comfort level here," Redmond said of his team's success at Marlins Park. "We seem to play with so much confidence in this ballpark, and you could just feel the energy."
Miami lost two of three to New York late last month at Citi Field.
[SportsNetwork.com]
