Miami Marlins snap New York Mets streak with win

NEW YORK -- The Miami Marlins played the New York Mets more than any other team in the National League East. So nobody needs to remind the Marlins that beating the Mets in September requires a more relentless effort than it did during the season's first four months.

Second baseman Dee Gordon had four hits, including a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and right-handed pitcher Tom Koehler wriggled out of numerous jams Tuesday night as the Marlins snapped the Mets' eight-game winning streak with a 9-3 victory at Citi Field.

"You know you can't let up, you can't take any pitch off," Koehler said. "You've got to make sure you're executing pitches, whether you have a seven-run lead or a one-run lead. Can't take any time off because they're a dangerous lineup that has shown they can come back at any moment."

The Mets, who rebuilt their lineup by acquiring utilitymen Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe on July 25 and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on July 31, posted six comeback wins in the streak that ended Tuesday.

On Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, the Mets were down two runs with two outs and nobody on in the 9th inning before mounting a tying rally and winning 10-7 in 10 innings. Last Tuesday, the Mets trailed the Washington Nationals 7-1 after six innings before storming back for a stunning 8-7 win.

"With this team, you give them a crack, they've shown this year that they can kick the door in," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said.

Jennings had that in mind in the bottom of the seventh, when he went to the mound to pull Koehler after he walked the first two batters with that same 7-1 lead. Left-hander Mike Dunn came in struck out right fielder Curtis Granderson, Cespedes and first baseman Daniel Murphy.

"To go get three punch-outs in that situation was huge," Jennings said. "I thought he stifled any momentum swing that was possibly taking place there."

The seventh inning wasn't the first time the Marlins withstood a Mets rally. Koehler appeared on the verge of being knocked out of the game in the first inning, when the Mets took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by third baseman David Wright and loaded the bases with one out. But Koehler retired catcher Travis d'Arnaud, who entered the game hitting .432 this month, and first baseman Lucas Duda, who leads the Mets in homers, on pop-ups.

"I thought we were going to do some big damage in the first inning," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "I thought we were going to blow the game open. I really did."

Koehler set the Mets down in order in the second and third before the Marlins took the lead by scoring three times in the fourth via an RBI double by first baseman Justin Bour, an RBI single by right fielder Marcell Ozuna and a sacrifice fly by catcher J.T. Realmuto.

Koehler stranded two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth. The Marlins then scored three more times in the fifth, when center fielder Christian Yelich hit an RBI double, third baseman Martin Prado lofted a sacrifice fly and Bour drove home Yelich with a single to center.

Wright was stranded at third in the sixth. The Marlins added another run in the seventh on Yelich's groundout. Gordon's homer came a half-inning after the Mets pulled within 7-3 on an RBI groundout by d'Arnaud and a run-scoring single by shortstop Ruben Tejada.

The Marlins finished with 15 hits. The top five batters in the lineup -- Gordon, Yelich, Prato, Bour and Ozuna -- finished 12-of-22 with eight RBIs and six runs scored.

Koehler (10-13) allowed one run on five hits and four walks while striking out four for the Marlins (62-83), who are 9-4 this month, including 3-2 against the first-place Mets. New York is 8-1 against the other teams it has played in September.

"Always want to give those guys a good game," Yelich said. "We're pretty far behind them, but that doesn't mean we can't play them hard and kind of show them we haven't quit."

The loss by the Mets (83-62), coupled with the Washington Nationals' 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, kept New York's magic number for winning the National League East at 10. The Mets lead the Nationals by 8 1/2 games.

DeGrom (13-8) took the loss after allowing six runs on 10 hits and no walks while striking out five over five innings. He has a 6.41 ERA in his last five starts.

"If you're real good, people expect a lot, you expect a lot," Collins said. "You don't live up to that, you can get (ticked) off. He's not real happy I kind of like that makeup that way."

NOTES: Mets LHP Dario Alvarez left in the ninth inning with a groin injury. ... Mets manager Terry Collins said Monday that RHP Logan Verrett, who threw five solid innings in a spot start in place of RHP Matt Harvey, will start when the Mets need to again skip one of their young starters. ... Marlins SS Adeiny Hechavarria (strained left hamstring) was out of the lineup for the 11th straight game. ... "Saturday Night Live" cast member Pete Davidson, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Marlins OF Christian Yelich, donned a Yelich jersey and mimicked OF Ichiro Suzuki's warmup before taking a few swings during batting practice. "There's some comparables," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said with a grin. "But I'll take our 'Yeli' at the plate."