NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton made Citi Field look small during a two-day power surge in one of his favorite ballparks. That wasn’t enough for the Miami Marlins to win the series, though.
Stanton hit two homers for the second consecutive day, but Wilmer Flores went deep twice for the New York Mets and Jacob deGrom pitched seven strong innings Wednesday in a 4-2 victory over Miami.
“Overall, it wasn’t a very good trip,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Finally on a serious tear at the plate following his long slump, Stanton reached 200 career homers and became the first major leaguer to connect in four straight at-bats since Albert Pujols in April 2006, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I did not know that until a minute ago. So that’s really cool,” Stanton said. “I’m on top of the fastball. That’s what I’ve been successful with. It’s what I fell off of for a little while. So when you’re on top of that, there’s not much they can do.”
Stanton sent one of his loud drives Wednesday into the second deck in left-center and has seven home runs and 18 RBIs over his past 18 games. The slugger also has eight long balls in his last 12 games at Citi Field.
But the Mets nemesis struck out to start the ninth, ending his homer streak, and the third-place Marlins (44-41) finished 3-6 on their road trip. Chris Johnson struck out with the bases loaded to end the first, and Christian Yelich grounded into a double play with runners at the corners in the fifth.
Curtis Granderson had a two-run single and Jose Reyes doubled twice for his first hits this season to help New York win for the sixth time in seven games. Reyes, a former Marlins shortstop, rejoined the Mets on Tuesday and went 0 for 4 in his first major league game since serving a 59-day domestic violence suspension.
The second-place Mets took two of three from Miami ahead of a four-game showdown with the NL East-leading Nationals this weekend at Citi Field leading into the All-Star break.
Following a 26-pitch first inning, deGrom (5-4) settled in and won his second straight start after going winless in his previous 10. The right-hander gave up six hits and struck out seven while throwing a season-high 117 pitches in his final scheduled outing before the break.
“This cat’s always got good stuff. He can pitch. This guy, he knows what he’s doing. I thought we were OK with him, honestly,” Mattingly said. “We made him fight and then he ends up putting those two innings together late on us. He was good.”
Addison Reed worked a perfect eighth and All-Star closer Jeurys Familia got three outs for his major league-best 30th save. Pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki grounded into a game-ending double play, keeping him at 2,990 hits.
Flores connected twice off left-hander Justin Nicolino (2-5), who fell to 0-5 in his last 10 major league starts. It was Flores’ fourth career multihomer game and second in four days, including a 6-for-6 performance Sunday against the Chicago Cubs.
Nicolino allowed four runs and four hits over four innings in his second outing since getting recalled from Triple-A New Orleans last Friday.
STREAK STOPPED
Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto had hits in seven straight at-bats dating to Sunday night before striking out his first time up.
IN THE CITI
Miami won its previous three series at Citi Field, where Stanton has five of his 18 career multihomer games. His 17 homers at the ballpark are the most among active visiting players.
“Big city, bright lights,” he said.
Stanton joined Derrek Lee (June 2002) as the lone Marlins players with consecutive multihomer games. The only other major leaguer to do it this season was Boston outfielder Mookie Betts.
“That guy is unbelievable. He’s a powerful man,” Reyes said of Stanton, a former teammate. “It’s unbelievable the way he hits the ball.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: 1B Justin Bour was put on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 3, with a sprained right ankle. Veteran utilityman Don Kelly was called up from Triple-A New Orleans and played first base in his first major league start since April 12, 2015. The 36-year-old Kelly is married to the older sister of Mets 2B Neil Walker, who twice threw out Kelly on grounders. … 3B Martin Prado was rested.
Mets: Struggling RHP Matt Harvey (4-10, 4.86 ERA) was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder discomfort. … SS Asdrubal Cabrera was scratched from the lineup about 10 minutes before the first pitch. The team announced it was because a family illness kept him up all night.
UP NEXT
Following an off day, All-Star RHP Jose Fernandez (10-4, 2.69 ERA) starts Friday night at home against Cincinnati RHP Dan Straily (4-5, 4.34). Fernandez is 24-1 with a 1.48 ERA in his career at Marlins Park.
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