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MIAMI -- New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard is not only a dominant pitcher -- he's humble, too. After winning his fourth straight decision, beating the Miami Marlins 6-2 on Friday, Syndergaard gave a lukewarm assessment of his nine-strikeout performance.
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"I didn't think I had a great feel for my changeup," said Syndergaard (6-2), who allowed two runs, six hits and one walk. "My curve ball was not very good today. My slider was decent."
Mets manager Terry Collins was a lot more upbeat about his young star's outing, raving about a slider that Syndergaard used to strike out Derek Dietrich on a 3-2 pitch with runners on second and third and two outs in the seventh.
"That pitch was electric," Collins said of Syndergaard's final delivery of the night.
Early on, however, Syndergaard allowed a run that was shocking on a couple levels. The first stunner was that he gave up a run at all. Up to that point, he had not allowed a run in 22 1/3 innings.
The other surprise was that he threw a 100-mph fastball and his velocity was turned around by Marcell Ozuna, who pulled the heat for a solo home run.
"I thought that was a pretty good pitch," Syndergaard said. "I'm going to have to avoid that zone (at the knees, middle of the plate) against him."
The Mets answered Ozuna's shot with three of their own. They got a solo homer by Asdrubal Cabrera to tie the score 1-1 in the fourth, James Loney's two-run, game-winner in the seventh and Rene Rivera's two-run insurance blow in the ninth.
For Loney, it was career home run No. 100 and his first with the Mets, who acquired him May 28 after starting first baseman Lucas Duda suffered a back injury.
Loney's homer followed a four-pitch walk from Marlins starter Tom Koehler (3-6) to Wilmer Flores, who led off the seventh inning.
That's when Marlins manager Don Mattingly brought in left-hander Mike Dunn to face Loney, a lefty batter. Loney, though, pulled the first pitch he saw for an upper-deck shot to right.
Mattingly said he felt as if he had no choice but to take Koehler out.
"If he gives up a hit, maybe it's a different story," Mattingly said of Koehler's demise in the seventh. "But he gave up a walk on four pitches."
Koehler defended Dunn, who missed the first two months of the season due to a forearm injury and has failed in his first two outings of the year. Dunn gave up a two-run single to a Pirates left-handed hitter, Matt Joyce, on Wednesday.
"Everybody else is rounding into midseason form," Koehler said. "(Dunn is) coming back after only throwing two rehab games. There's going to be some rust. But we need him. He's huge for us."
Mets reliever Addison Reed is one of those pitchers who is in midseason form. He struck out the side in the eighth -- all three of those batters were caught looking -- and hasn't been scored on since April 30. His streak is at 12 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Mets (30-23) and Marlins (29-26) have split four games so far this season.
Miami, which had its three-game win streak snapped, was led by Ozuna, who drove in both runs and leads the team with 29 RBIs.
After Ozuna's blast in the second inning, the Mets took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. After Cabrera pulled his homer to right, Yoenis Cespedes singled and scored on Flores' two-out hit to right. Flores hit a 3-2 pitch, and his bat shattered in half.
Ozuna tied the score in the sixth with a sacrifice fly. The rally started when Martin Prado singled and advanced to third on a double by Christian Yelich, who hit a grounder that deflected off the glove of Cabrera at shortstop and bounced into center field.
Then came Loney's game-changing home run, and the newest Mets player had fun with his teammates as if they had been there for him on his previous 99 major league long balls.
"I told these guys, 'Thanks for all the years we've been through'," Loney said. "It was good, though."
NOTES: Mets 3B David Wright (herniated disk in neck) was placed on the disabled list and is expected to miss at least two months and possibly the entire season if he requires surgery. The Mets promoted INF Matt Reynolds from Triple-A Las Vegas. ... The Mets plan to use Wilmer Flores at third base. ... Mets LHP Steven Matz (4-0, 1.83 ERA in May) was named the NL's Rookie of the Month. .... Marlins 2B Derek Dietrich (bruised left wrist) returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game. ... Two Marlins -- RHP Jose Fernandez and CF Marcell Ozuna -- had outstanding Months. Fernandez, though, was beaten out by Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for NL Pitcher of the Month, and Ozuna was overtaken by Washington Nationals 2B Daniel Murphy for Player of the Month.
