Offense goes cold as NY Mets' three-game winning streak gets snapped by Miami Marlins
NEW YORK – Marlins' rookie Jerar Encarnacion will never forget how he spent Father's Day this year.
Seth Lugo probably wishes he could.
Encarnacion celebrated his major league debut by hitting a go-ahead, grand slam off Lugo to lift the Marlins past the Mets, 6-2, on Sunday at Citi Field. It snapped a three-game winning streak for the Mets (44-24) and disappointed a large holiday crowd of 41,255.
Lugo inherited a mess after Chris Bassitt exited with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh inning.
Bassitt was effective until that point with a season-high nine strikeouts on 109 pitches, while leaning heavily on his sinker.
"Bassitt was great today," manager Buck Showalter said. "He matched one of the best pitchers in baseball. Some people think the best. Bass was the key to us even being in that ballgame."
The Mets' right-hander was charged with three earned runs, but faded in his final inning after being sent back out with 97 pitches.
Bassitt gave up a walk and two singles in the seventh before getting pulled with the Mets still leading 1-0.
Showalter wanted some extra length from his starter with Drew Smith unavailable and the Mets trying to avoid Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino.
"I wouldn't have been out there if I didn't (feel up to it)," Bassitt said. "I've done that in the past multiple times and me and Buck have a good relationship where if I feel good, I'll go back out. That'll be a common theme the rest of the year. It's not a big deal."
Encarnacion worked a full count before lashing a sinker the other way into the right field stands. The 24-year-old became only the second player in franchise history to hit a grand slam in his MLB debut and the first since Jeremy Hermida on Aug. 31, 2005.
The Marlins' right fielder added a stolen base and threw out Tomas Nido, who tried to stretch a single into a double to lead off the third inning.
"I've heard very good things about him," shortstop Francisco Lindor said. "He's got a good swing and yeah, he got a good pitch and hit it out. It sucks that we end up with a loss but I'm sure it's great gift for his parents."
All of that was too much for the Mets to overcome against Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who allowed two runs over eight innings.
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Alcantara finished the game with a 1.72 ERA after scattering six hits on an efficient 106-pitch afternoon. He's logged at least seven innings in eight straight starts, the longest streak in the league since Jacob deGrom achieved the same feat in September 2019.
Alcantara retired 10 straight Mets at one point until the Mets finally broke through with two outs in the seventh inning.
Starling Marte laced a triple to the left field gap and Lindor followed with an RBI single.
Over his last four games, Lindor is 4-for-15 with two home runs and seven RBI.
But Alcantara didn't give the Mets much more, other than Luis Guillorme's RBI single.
"He's got a lot of attributes that figure into winning baseball," said Showalter, who mentioned his command and deceptive release point as pluses.
"That's the reason why he's carrying an ERA with a one next to it. It's not like he's just picking on us."
Catching up
Meanwhile, catcher James McCann started for the third time in four days on a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton.
McCann (fractured bone in his left hand) went 2-for-4 with a walk against Bowie.
It appears that McCann could be activated soon, although Showalter didn't want to tip his hand on how much longer the surgically-repaired catcher will need. The initial timeline of six weeks put McCann on track to return late this month.
"I heard a number (of at-bats) but I don't think it does Mac any good for me to be broadcasting that," Showalter said.
Sean Farrell is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: farrells@northjersey.com
Twitter: @seanfarrell92
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets' winning streak gets snapped by Miami Marlins
