Mets Nearly Blow Huge Lead, But Sweep Marlins

Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images

Yuk!

That was almost bad, really bad. Possibly would have been a worse loss than the one the Mets suffered last Friday, at home against the Padres, blowing a six run lead.

Although, they allowed the Marlins to rally for six in the ninth, New York did hold on for an 8-6 win Wednesday night, finishing off a three game sweep of the fish. It's the team's first road sweep of the season, and in fact, the first time they've won three straight on the road, period.

Wash away that the memory of Miami's ninth inning and Mets' fans have got to be feeling pretty good, riding what is now a six-game win streak and now a two game lead in the NL East (Washington lost at home to Arizona 11-4.)

And, for a team that has struggled to score all year, New York's bats pounded on 39 hits and 25 runs in the series - including 15 and 8 on Wednesday night at Marlins Park, while Matt Harvey did his part with seven scoreless innings to improve to 10-7 on the year.

Yoenis Cespedes got the Mets on the board in the fourth with an RBI-single, Lucas Duda followed with a double to drive home two and rookie Michael Conforto added a sac-fly in the inning. Then in the fifth, Juan Uribe hit a laser beam over the left field wall for a three-run blast putting New York up 7-0 - at hit that would prove to be key later in the game. Lucas Duda also added a sac-fly RBI in the ninth before Miami started its rally.

The first four Marlins runs were charged to Eric O'Flaherty - recently acquired by the Mets from Oakland, less than 24 hours before he made a less than impressive debut (2/3 of an inning, 4 hits, 4 runs). Hansel Robles came on, yielding a hit, walk and two earned runs before Juerys Familia finally closed the door. But, not before giving up two hits - including one that plated a run. Ultimately it's a save for Familia, his 29th of the year.

The Mets have Thursday off, before the start of a three-game set in Tampa on Friday night.